U.S. drops demand for full accounting of N. Korea nuclear program ahead of talks

[demmiblue]

Source: NBC News



HANOI, Vietnam — U.S. negotiators are no longer demanding that North Korea agree to disclose a full accounting of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs as part of talks this week between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, according to current and former senior U.S. officials.

The decision to drop, for now, a significant component of a potential nuclear deal suggests a reality that U.S. intelligence assessments have stressed for months is shaping talks as they progress: North Korea does not intend to fully denuclearize which is the goal Trump set for his talks with Kim.

Disclosure of a full, verifiable declaration of North Korea’s programs is the issue over which the last round of serious negotiations between Pyongyang and world powers, including the U.S., fell apart a decade ago.

Negotiations between U.S. and North Korean officials in advance of Trump and Kim’s second summit, which begins Wednesday night over dinner in Hanoi, have focused heavily on a core component of Pyongyang’s program, the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, officials said. Dr. Siegfried Hecker, a nuclear scientist who has visited the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center numerous times to assess their capabilities, said dismantling elements of the facility would be the most significant step North Korea could take toward denuclearization.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/u-s-drops-demand-full-accounting-n-korea-nuclear-program-n977251

[dalton99a]

1. "Anything for you, Chairman Kim"

[FiveGoodMen]

5. Sure has changed his view of "Little Rocket Man", hasn't he?

[DallasNE]

32. You Can Be Sure

That this was the demand Putin made through his Foreign Minister, Lavrov. He has been in talks with Trump in Hanoi. Sometimes Trump caving is a good thing, but not this time - especially at the start of the talks where it should be used to extract serious concessions. And with Trumps eager willingness to abandon treaties, why even bother, realistically. Lastly, no deal is better than a bad deal.

[Freethinker65]

2. WTF

[Achilleaze]

3. The republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief surrenders again

to another murderous fascist tyrant. What's up with republican submissiveness?

Deplorable.

[bluestarone]

4. Our Generals gotta be

Going ballistic!!

[matt819]

6. This is not a win for the US

This is an absolute win-win-win for Kim.

No verification means no de-nuclearization.

No verification means nuclear program will continue.

No verification means Donald Trump is a major loser.

Undoing this damage will take a generation.

[SergeStorms]

21. He's well on his way...

to that Nobel Peace Prize he so covets.

[C_U_L8R]

7. Trump's desperation is palpable.

Anything for a ‘deal’ no matter how stupid it is

[Roy Rolling]

8. Impossible

No agreement or contract can exist without an agreement on some number or quantified objective. Trump is the worst negotiator in the history of the American presidency.

Imagine this. He's selling a condo. "How much will the condo cost, Don?" "I am abandoning the use of counting the dollars. Take the condo, I don't want anything in return".

Yeah, right.

[oldsoftie]

17. Ha!

[lark]

9. drumpf folds before talks even begin.

He doesn't give a shit about denuclearization, he just cares about pleasing PUtin and Lavarov has obviously given him new orders from his master.

[volstork]

18. Like a rusty lawn chair.

Worst. Person. Ever.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. Sounds like Trump is negotiating for favorable

Sexual positioning, not foreign policy.

[NCjack]

11. Give away our bargaining chips, then beg for concessions.

Works every time.

McConnell is ultimately responsible for not removing this idiot and should be made to pay in-full.

[dhill926]

12. yeah...thats a strong starting position...

jesus...

[politicaljunkie41910]

13. Little Kim, from the broke ass country of North Korea has played Trump once again.

This is so embarrassing. Little Kim must be thinking, "If I had known it would be this easy, I would have attacked America a long time ago. " Would someone please tell Kim that we are not all as stupid as the president that Putin picked for us.

[paleotn]

14. The "great negotiator" gets rolled again.

Had it not been for daddy's money, I think 45 would have been fired by the used car lot.

[oldsoftie]

16. i bring up "daddys money' on a regular basis. Trumpers hate it.

When that story broke, the thing i noticed was that trumps people didnt say the facts of daddys money were wrong, they only disputed that any taxes were illegally avoided.
So that pretty much means they admit that daddy bailed out trump on numerous occasions.

[oldsoftie]

15. Of course. BECAUSE THEY WOULD LIE.

[voteragain]

19. follow the money

my question is what's in it for Trump's boss and of course Trump?

[BigmanPigman]

20. Are they going to talk about their

sexual conquests and braid each others' hair tonight? Oops, forget the hair for obvious reasons.

[CountAllVotes]

22. Dangerous

Very dangerous move.

Do not underestimate ...

[procon]

23. If Trump ever gets off his knees long enough

to speak, no doubt we'll learn that he made the greatest deal in history.

[Mr. Smith]

24. Trump appears pathetically eager to get a deal, any deal.

It's embarrassing.

[soryang]

25. No one expected the so called "hek list" this early on.

The demands that Pompeo made for this in Pyongyang last July are what caused the breakdown in the talks after the June 12 summit.

When Pompeo was in Pyongyang October 7, 2018, the US demand for a complete inventory of nuclear weapons production facilities, weapons, missile bases, and so on,the so-called "hek list," as a condition for a second summit had already been dropped. If it wasn't the talks would have ended there, and Pompeo wouldn't have been invited back to Pyongyang.


More good faith step by step, reciprocal trust building measures are necessary before the negotiations will proceed to any sort of comprehensive inventory of all nuclear weapon program assets and inspection and verification measures. A framework to schedule and identify the steps along the way to this objective needs to reached.

[Historic NY]

26. WTF is this charade even about, photo opts...

What happened to trust but verify.

[MyOwnPeace]

27. I'm feeling a whole lot better..........

we've cancelled the nuclear peace agreement with Russia, and now...................

That's really gonna' move him to the top of the list for the Nobel Peace Prize!

[Corgigal]

28. Oh, we're playing the 24 hour

news cycle game? Trying to bump Cohen off the top on probably things Trump can't accomplish.

So..done.

[Cold War Spook]

29. Donny doesn't stand a chance with Kim.

He has been in training for the presidency his whole life. He knows how the US government works better than Donny and many other politicians. Don't count on China or Russia to help.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

30. That fucker's going to sell us out yet

[Scurrilous]

31. K&R