White House National Security Advisor “Next year’s Tokyo Olympics could be an opportunity for negotiations between the United States and North Korea”

Entry 2020.10.17 08:34

“There may be an opportunity to negotiate denuclearization with North Korea before and after the Olympics.”

White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said on the 16th (local time) that next year’s Tokyo Summer Olympics could serve as an opportunity to resume negotiations with the United States and North Korea. , which had been stagnant. The Tokyo Olympics will begin on July 23 next year. However, it is unclear whether the Tokyo Olympics, which were about to be held this year but postponed a year due to the corona pandemic (a global pandemic), will be held next year as planned.

According to Free Asia Broadcasting (RFA), during a video interview at the Think Tank Aspen Institute today, when asked, ‘What is the US strategy towards North Korea right now and is it impossible to fully denuclearize? ? ‘He said, “There’s a chance. I can.” Like the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, it seems that the Olympics, a place of global harmony, could be the impetus for political breakthroughs between North America.

“I think North Korea is interested in participating in the Tokyo Olympics,” O’Brien said. “Before, during and after the Olympics, the parties come together to lead the prosperity of the North Korean people and lead to a better economic period, leading to smart cuts and further steps towards denuclearization. There may be an opportunity to negotiate.” However, he said, “But this is a difficult problem, as you know,” he said, and that North Korea is a tough negotiator who doesn’t give much.

This is the first time that a high-ranking US official has publicly mentioned a specific timetable for resuming the dialogue between the United States and North Korea. Advisor O’Brien’s statements suggested that “next summer” would be the time for negotiations between the United States and North Korea, and it can be interpreted that, in fact, it was formalized that it was difficult to resume the dialogue before the presidential elections. of November.

Aide O’Brien also emphasized the close relationship between US President Donald Trump and the Chairman of the North Korean State Council, Kim Jong-un. He said: “The president achieved results that no one thought he could achieve,” he said, “implemented the strongest sanctions against North Korea and created a channel of communication with North Korean leaders.” He stressed that since the US-North Korea summit in 2018, North Korea has not conducted nuclear tests or long-range ballistic missile launches.