North Korean Dictator Breaks Off Nuclear Talks With the US

The leaders of the hermit nation; North Korea and the United States have been trying to negotiate a nuclear deal for almost a year now. The first-ever meeting was held in Singapore back in December last year—the event is now a yearly occurrence and is now known as the Singapore Summit.

Canceled Conversations

The first attempt to meet with Kim Jong-un this year was canceled by Trump, following which a second conference was arranged and held in Vietnam— this is now known as the 2019 US-North Korea Hanoi summit, or simply the Hanoi summit. The goal behind these summits was to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and hopefully curb the rising threat of a nuclear war between the United States and North Korea. Since at least June 2019, negotiators have been trying to get Kim back to the negotiation table since the progress made at the Hanoi summit was insufficient to quell concerns from the United States. However, it now appears that all previous attempts at coming to an agreement can now be considered null and void, since Kim gave a public statement outside the North Korean embassy in Sweden, saying; “The negotiations have not fulfilled our expectation and finally broke off.” Kim seemed to express dissatisfaction when he further added: “The U.S. raised expectations by offering suggestions like a flexible approach, new method, and creative solutions, but they have disappointed us greatly and dampened our enthusiasm for negotiation by bringing nothing to the negotiation table.”

The Sanctions Continue

As of yet, the US delegation has not yet commented on the issue, while the multiple trade sanctions imposed on North Korea by the US and the looming threat of war still remain active causes for concern for the leaders of both nations. The US Secretary of state, Mike Pompeo has expressed some optimism about the issue, noting that he is hopeful of a fruitful discussion in the future while admitting that “there remains to be a lot of work that will have to be done by the two teams.” Do you think there will ever be a resolution between the United States and North Korea? If so, at what cost? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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