Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) -- Beyond the bluster, the
Trump administration has been quietly engaged in back channel diplomacy with
North Korea for several months, addressing Americans imprisoned in the
communist country and deteriorating relations between the long-time foes, The
Associated Press has learned.
It had been known the two sides had discussions to secure
the June release of an American university student. But it wasn't known until
now that the contacts have continued, or that they have broached matters other
than U.S. detainees.
People familiar with the contacts say the interactions have
done nothing thus far to quell tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons and
missile advances, which are now fueling fears of military confrontation. But
they say the behind-the-scenes discussions could still be a foundation for more
serious negotiation, including on North Korea's nuclear weapons, should
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un put aside the
bellicose rhetoric of recent days and endorse a dialogue.
The contacts are occurring regularly between Joseph Yun,
the U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, and Pak Song Il, a senior North Korean
diplomat at the country's U.N. mission, according to U.S. officials and others
briefed on the process. They weren't authorized to discuss the confidential
exchanges and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Officials call it the "New York channel." Yun is
the only U.S. diplomat in contact with any North Korean counterpart. The
communications largely serve as a way to exchange messages, allowing Washington
and Pyongyang to relay information.
Drowned out by the furor over Trump's warning to North
Korea of "fire and fury like the world has never seen," Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson has expressed a willingness to entertain negotiations. His
condition: Pyongyang stopping tests of missiles that can now potentially reach
the U.S. mainland.
Tillerson has even hinted at an ongoing back channel.
"We have other means of communication open to them, to certainly hear from
them if they have a desire to want to talk," he said at an Asian security
meeting in the Philippines this week.
The interactions could point to a level of pragmatism in
the Trump administration's approach to the North Korean threat, despite the
president's dire warnings.
On Friday, he tweeted: "Military solutions are now
fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely." But
on Thursday, he said, "we'll always consider negotiations," even if
they haven't worked in the last quarter-century.
The contacts suggest Pyongyang, too, may be open to a
negotiation even as it talks of launching missiles near the U.S. territory of
Guam. The North regularly threatens nuclear strikes on the United States and
its allies.
The State Department didn't immediately comment on Yun's
diplomacy. The White House also had no comment. A diplomat at North Korea's
U.N. mission only confirmed use of diplomatic channel up to the release of U.S.
college student Otto Warmbier two months ago.
Trump, in some ways, has been more flexible in his approach
to North Korea than President Barack Obama. While variations of the New York
channel have been used on-and-off for years by past administrations, there were
no discussions over the last seven months of Obama's presidency after Pyongyang
broke them off in anger over U.S. sanctions imposed on its leader, Kim. Obama
made little effort to reopen lines of communication.
The contacts quickly restarted after Trump's inauguration,
other people familiar with the discussions say.
"Contrary to the public vitriol of the moment, the
North Koreans were willing to reopen the New York channel following the
election of President Trump and his administration signaled an openness to
engage and 'talk about talks,'" said Keith Luse, executive director of the
National Committee on North Korea, a U.S.-based group that promotes U.S.-North
Korean engagement.
"However, the massive trust deficit in Pyongyang and
in Washington toward each other has impeded the confidence-building process
necessary to have constructive dialogue," he said.
The early U.S. focus was on securing the release of several
Americans held in North Korea.
They included Warmbier, who was imprisoned for stealing a
propaganda poster and only allowed to return to the U.S. in June - in an
unconscious state. He died days later. Yun traveled on the widely publicized
mission to Pyongyang to bring Warmbier home.
Despite outrage in the U.S. with Warmbier's treatment and
sharp condemnation by Trump, the U.S.-North Korean interactions in New York
continued.
Yun and his counterpart have discussed the other Americans
still being held. They include Kim Hak Song, a university employee detained in
May accused of unspecified "hostile" acts; Tony Kim, a teacher at the
same school, accused of trying to overthrow the government; and Kim Dong Chul,
sentenced last year to a decade in prison with hard labor for supposed
espionage.
But the American and North Korean diplomats also have
discussed the overall U.S.-North Korean relationship. The two countries have no
diplomatic ties and are still enemies, having only reached an armistice - not a
peace treaty - to end the 1950-1953 Korean War. Twenty-eight thousand U.S.
troops are still stationed in South Korea.
In its own convoluted way, North Korea has indicated
openness to talks in recent weeks, even as it has accelerated the tempo of
weapons tests.
On July 4, after the North test-launched an
intercontinental ballistic missile that could potentially strike the
continental U.S., leader Kim added a new caveat to his refusal to negotiate
over its nukes or missiles. Instead of a blanket rejection, he ruled out such
concessions "unless the U.S. hostile policy and nuclear threat to the DPRK
are definitely terminated."
That message has been repeated by other North Korean
officials, without greater specification. Nor have they offered an indication
as to whether Pyongyang would accept denuclearization as the goal of talks.
Still, advocates for diplomacy, including some voices in
the U.S. government, view the addendum as a potential opening.
"North Korea is assessing its options," said
Susan DiMaggio, a senior fellow at the New America think tank who participated
in unofficial talks with North Korean officials in Oslo in May that were also
attended by Yun. "They recognize that at some point they have to return to
the table to address what's becoming a crisis. That's what they are weighing
right now: the timing of engagement."
Any negotiation would face huge skepticism in Washington
given North Korea's long record of broken promises. The last serious U.S.-North
Korea negotiations collapsed in 2012 when Pyongyang launched a long-range
rocket that derailed an agreement of a North Korean nuclear freeze in exchange
for U.S. food aid.
North Korea's weapons program has developed significantly
since then. As a result, its price in any such negotiation is now likely to be
far higher. At a minimum, Pyongyang would renew its long-standing demands for
an end to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises - which are set to resume
this month - and an eventual peace treaty with Washington.
To date, the Trump administration has heavily concentrated
its diplomatic energy on cranking up international pressure on North Korea's
government, in particular pressing China to lean on its wayward ally. Last
weekend, the U.N. adopted its strongest economic sanctions on Pyongyang.
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