S. Korea Says Korean Leaders to Meet on Denuclearization

 

A South Korean official says North Korea’s leader commented that he is committed to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

National security advisor¹ Chung Eui-yong also said that the leaders of North and South Korea are to meet in the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang, from September 18th to the 20th. Chung made the announcement Thursday in Seoul.

One day earlier, Chung led a delegation² to the North Korean capital to confirm details of the planned meeting. He also met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim said to be frustrated³

Thursday, Chung told reporters about his talks with Kim. He said Kim confirmed his commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The official added that Kim also promised to cooperate with both South Korea and the United States.

Chung said that Kim’s faith in U.S. President Donald Trump⁴ is unchanged since their summit in Singapore on June 12.

News of the comment brought a statement of thanks from Trump on Twitter.

Chung noted⁵ that Kim said he wishes for North Korea and the U.S. to end their hostilities⁶ by the end of Trump’s first term in office in 2021.

The Associated Press reports that Chung said Kim expressed frustration⁷ over the international community’s reaction to measures taken by the North.

Several measures were meant to show the North’s willingness to end its banned weapons programs. These include disabling part of the Sohae missile launch area and destruction of tunnels used to test nuclear weapons. Last month, North Korea also returned 55 sets of human remains⁸ to the United States. They are believed to be those of American soldiers who died in the Korean War.

Kim said he would take “more active” measures toward denuclearization if his moves were met with similar measures, Chung said.

The South Korean delegation came to Pyongyang as U.S.-North Korean diplomatic efforts appeared to have cooled. Last month, Trump cancelled a planned trip by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang. He said not enough progress had been made toward denuclearization.

Critics of the most recent negotiation⁹ efforts say North Korea has, in the past, said it would end its nuclear program. They say the North has often sought to gain economic aid and then failed to keep its promises.

China’s part in negotiations¹⁰

The most recent developments come as North Korea prepares to mark its 70th anniversary on September 9. Representatives of North Korea’s close ally, China, are expected to be at the special ceremony.

Chinese parliamentary chief Li Zhanshu is set to attend, not President Xi Jinping. Li is the third ranking member in China’s Communist Party.

Stephen Noerper is a senior director at the Korea Society in New York City.

He said, while China has listened to North Korea’s concerns, the country has reduced trade with its neighbor and placed pressure on it. North Korea continues to face strong United Nations restrictions¹¹ because of its banned nuclear and missile program.

President Trump has called on China to do more to get North Korea to take part in talks on denuclearization.

Noerper said South Korea is acting¹² as a moderator between the U.S. and the North. He said this position is risky¹³ for South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Moon’s popularity at home has fallen since his earlier meetings with Kim and the Trump-Kim summit.

Moon spoke¹⁴ to his aides Thursday about the next meeting with Kim. He said the talks will speed up negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea on the issue of denuclearization.

The newly announced summit between the Korean leaders would come just before the yearly gathering¹⁵ of world leaders at the United Nations in New York.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

frustration –n. the fact of being prevented from succeeding or doing something

goodwill¹⁶ –n. a kind, helpful, or friendly feeling or attitude

1 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

2 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

3 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

7 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

10 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

11 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

13 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

16 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。