Signs point to renewed talks between U.S., North Korea

There was no substantial meeting between U.S. and North Korean officials at a key nuclear nonproliferation conference in Moscow over the weekend, but signs are emerging that talks between the two sides could resume in coming weeks.

U.S. and South Korean officials held a strategy meeting Saturday on the sidelines of the 2019 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference to discuss ways to breathe new life into the talks that broke down last month, and a top official in Seoul said he believes the Trump administration is “very actively” trying to persuade Pyongyang back to the table.

Chung Eui-yong, the national security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, made that assertion at a news conference Sunday, citing North Korea’s ongoing threat to kill the prospect of future talks if Washington does not soften its negotiating posture by the end of the year, according to wire reports.

A top North Korean official, meanwhile, renewed the ultimatum during the nonproliferation conference in Russia at the start of weekend. Jo Chol-su, the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s director general for North America, spoke Friday on the matter in Moscow, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

“We have given considerably much time to the U.S., and we will wait for some results until the end of this year,” Mr. Jo said in an answer to a conference participant’s question. “Though we expect everything to go into a positive direction, I want to say that the window for opportunity is closing bit by bit every day.”

Mr. Jo’s comments underscored Pyongyang’s adherence to an April ultimatum circulated in North Korea state media that President Trump start offering serious concessions — including sanctions relief that Mr. Trump repeatedly has rejected — by the end of 2019 if Washington wants the nuclear talks to continue.

While Mr. Trump has described the opening of denuclearization talks with North Korea as a “huge win” of his first term in office, the push for diplomacy has essentially gone nowhere since February’s high-stakes second summit between the president and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam. The summit ended abruptly when Mr. Trump walked out after refusing to offer sweeping sanctions relief to Pyongyang unless North Korea agreed upfront to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

The period since has been one of fits and starts, underscored by 23 short-range ballistic missile launches by North Korea and threatening propaganda emanating from the Kim regime. Messages in North Korean state media still praise Mr. Trump personally, but many have had a hostile tone.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim held an impromptu handshake meeting at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing North and South Korea in June, but there haven’t been any substantive or “working level” nuclear talks since February.

The Kim regime agreed to participate in such talks with a team led by U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen E. Biegun last month in Stockholm, Sweden, but negotiations broke down after less than a day. North Korean officials accused Washington of “hostile” posturing.

Sources say that despite such rhetoric, Mr. Kim may seek a third direct summit with Mr. Trump by the end of the year, although most analysts fear the relationship with Pyongyang is likely to worsen before it improves because the North is expected to ramp up provocations to U.S.-South Korean military drills in December.

There was speculation heading into the weekend that State Department Director for Korea Policy Mark Lambert — a key member of Mr. Biegun’s negotiating team — may hold talks with North Korean officials at the nonproliferation conference in Moscow.

Mr. Jo, the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s top North America-focused official, is considered to be Mr. Lambert’s counterpart in Pyongyang. Yonhap reported Sunday that no formal talks had occurred between the two men in Moscow, but they did have a five-minute conversation during a reception for participants at the non-proliferation conference.

Mr. Lambert separately held a breakfast meeting on the sidelines of the conference with South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, Lee Do-hoon, to discuss how to deal with North Korea. Yonhap cited the South Korean Foreign Ministry as revealing the meeting without elaborating further.

There was no immediate comment from the State Department.