[Editorial] US needs to adopt more proactive and bolder attitude toward N. Korea

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

After previously being predicted for later this month, the resumption of working-level denuclearization talks between North Korea and the US will now have to wait until October at the earliest. No signs of a change in the situation have been evident since US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Sept. 16 that no schedule had been set with the North. Indeed, Pyongyang has now been pressing Washington for several days to make a “bold decision.” It is worrying to think the negotiations could end up being postponed once again as the staring contest between North Korea and the US continues.

On Sept. 28, Ri Ki-ho, a counselor for the North Korean mission to the US, sent a message to the US urging it to “implement our joint statement with sincerity and bold resolution.” Making references to the suspension of nuclear and ICBM testing and the dismantlement of the nuclear test site at Punggye Village, Ri argued that while North Korea has shown its commitment to execution, the US has not taken any measures to implement the joint statement. His remarks took issue with the joint military exercises conducted by South Korea and the US and the continued sanctions against the North. Ri’s comments were a continuation of the message two days earlier from North Korean Foreign Ministry advisor Kim Kye-gwan, who called for “action rather than words” from US President Donald Trump.

Judging from the “optimism” that North Korean Ambassador to the UN Kim Son expressed over the working-level talks coming to pass, it seems clear that Pyongyang does intend to participate in them. But that may not end up happening if the US simply asks to meet with the North without offering a “new calculation method.” Now is the time for the US to start showing a more forward-thinking attitude toward the North. If it wants Pyongyang to make major changes, Washington also needs to match them with a bold proposal of its own.

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