Kim's Sister Says U.S. Has 'Wrong' Views on Talks With Pyongyang

[TexasTowelie]

Kim Jong Un’s sister said the U.S. has “wrong” views in thinking North Korea might be offering an opening to return to talks, in comments coming shortly after an envoy for President Joe Biden said the U.S. was ready for dialogue “anywhere, anytime” with Pyongyang.

The official Korean Central News Agency released a statement from Kim Yo Jong on Tuesday about two hours before Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, was due to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul to talk about reviving dormant disarmament negotiations with North Korea. Pyongyang has a habit of timing its actions and statements to high-level political events.

“It seems that the U.S. may interpret the situation in such a way as to seek a comfort for itself. The expectation, which they chose to harbor the wrong way, would plunge them into a greater disappointment,” KCNA quoted her as saying in a statement that came in at about 100 words.

Kim Yo Jong, a member of the country’s ruling family who has become one of the most prominent faces in its pressure campaign against the U.S. and South Korea, said she was referring to comments made by a U.S. national security adviser who saw “an “interesting signal,” from a major ruling party meeting last week.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-22/kim-s-sister-says-u-s-has-wrong-views-on-talks-with-pyongyang

[soryang]

1. the article needs to support this contention

"The Biden administration has indicated it could be willing to look at an incremental approach where it gives targeted rewards in return for disarmament steps."

Which administration official said this?

[marble falls]

2. DuckDuckGo is your friend

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/anytime-biden-s-north-korea-point-man-ready-to-talk-with-kim-regime-20210621-p582we.html

There are several more sources, too.

[soryang]

3. the problem with this article is the same

"The Biden administration has indicated it could be willing to look at an incremental approach where it gives targeted rewards in return for disarmament steps. " an unattributed comment with no specific details to make it credible. Stephen Beigun's Stanford speech which enticed NK into negotiations and was forgotten at the summit was more promising than this vague statement that only appears in the press. I've been following these reports every day for years.

here's the flip side of the same problem:

"He also said the US will press ahead with United Nations sanctions put in place to punish North Korea for its tests of nuclear devices and missiles that could carry warheads to the US mainland."

iow "maximum pressure." "Pressure pump" was the name of the bombing campaign during the Korean War, where the US obliterated literally every cultural feature in North Korea.

"Calibrated" is not the same thing as "phased." It also relates back to Assistant Foreign Minister Choi's comment immediately after the Hanoi fiasco where the phased approach was thrown in the trash. She said Kim didn't understand the US calculating method. It's essentially a coercive hostile approach.

[marble falls]

4. Read the first two paragraphs ...

Washington: President Joe Biden’s point man for North Korea said the US was ready for talks “anywhere, anytime” with the Kim regime, providing a strong signal Washington is prepared to revive a stagnant disarmament dialogue.

Sung Kim, the US special representative for North Korea, said after discussions on Monday in Seoul with South Korean counterpart Noh Kyu-duk and Japan’s Takehiro Funakoshi that the Biden administration’s policy called for “a calibrated, practical approach”, which included possible diplomacy with North Korea.

[soryang]

5. I did

the statement by Sung Kim appears in almost every article. The calibrated approach is not the same as a phased approach. The US continues to resist the six party formula adopted even in the UN sanctions resolution. It's weasel wording and its recognized as such.

I think Sung Kim is on a short leash. I can tell by other indicators that there are feelers out there but once burned twice shy. There is nothing the North hasn't seen before. As I said, Sung Kim's statement is even more restricted than Beigun's was.