North Koreans Are No Show at U.S. War Dead Talks, Yonhap Reports [View all]
Source: Bloomberg
North Korean officials didn’t show up for a planned meeting with U.S. counterparts to discuss returning the remains of American war dead, South Korean media reported, in the latest sign of tensions between the two sides.
U.S. negotiators arrived Thursday at the militarized border between the two Koreas as previously announced by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and were kept waiting, the Yonhap News Agency reported, citing diplomatic officials it didn’t identify. The meeting was expected to be the first working-level talks between the two sides since Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang ended Saturday with North Korea denouncing the U.S.’s “unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization.”
A spokesman for U.S. Forces Korea referred questions Thursday to the Department of Defense in Washington. The Pentagon didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment Wednesday. Pompeo had said when announcing the talks that the meeting could “move by one day or two.”
While the details are unclear, a failure to meet on the issue wouldn’t bode well for broader negotiations about North Korea’s nuclear program. The discussions about returning Americans soldiers killed almost 70 years ago was perhaps the most tangible outcome from Pompeo’s trip, which analysts expected would at least secure the release of some remains.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-12/north-koreans-are-no-show-at-u-s-war-dead-talks-yonhap-reports
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