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1 1 (June 19, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdgyx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF.ri E.$~ & mppm qq\ p\w -- , gn'a', go I aS 11LULANJILiN, Updated June 19, 2020 Diplomacy with North Korea: A Status Report United States-North Korea diplomacy to curb North Korea's nuclear and missile programs has been stalled since February 2019, and observers see little chance for progress in the coming months. In June 2020, tension increased on the Korean Peninsula, when the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea's official name) turned more belligerent, blowing up an inter-Korean liaison office inside North Korea and threatening to interfere in upcoming U.S. elections, among other moves. Since President Donald Trump first agreed in March 2018 to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to discuss North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, the Trump Administration has emphasized the importance of developing a strong leader-to-leader relationship. The strategy appears to presume better results than the working- group negotiations employed by previous administrations. Trump and Kim have held three meetings: in Singapore (June 2018); Hanoi (February 2019); and Panmunjom (June 2019). The personal diplomacy defused the U.S.-DPRK hostility that had developed in 2017, raising alarms that war could break out on the Korean Peninsula. The diplomacy also has helped preserve North Korea's self-imposed moratoria on nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. Despite Kim's 2018 pledge to denuclearize, President Trump's approach to North Korea has been called into question by the absence of progress in negotiations, the DPRK's renewed hostility, allegations of sanctions-busting trade, and Pyongyang's continued enhancements to its military capabilities. Skt-wau,- dfUSA)-PRK tatn The February 2019 Hanoi summit ended without an agreement due to differences over the scope and sequencing of DPRK denuclearization measures in exchange for sanctions relief. Since the June 2019 Panmunjom meeting, the U.S. and North Korea have held one round of official talks, in October 2019. U.S. officials say their North Korean counterparts have refused to engage in additional negotiations. The two countries have not agreed on denuclearization steps, whether an agreement will include DPRK missiles, or the mechanisms for verifying any agreement, including inspection and monitoring arrangements. Meanwhile, China, Russia, and, to a lesser extent, South Korea have called for a relaxation of sanctions on North Korea, including Beijing and Moscow's December 2019 proposal to lift several categories of U.N. sanctions. The Trump Administration rejected the proposals as premature. In late December 2019, Kim announced there is no ground for North Korea to continue to maintain its nuclear and long-range missile testing moratoria. Kim criticized the United States' continuation of sanctions, joint military exercises with South Korea, and shipments of advanced military equipment to South Korea. Kim warned the world will witness a new strategic weapon to be possessed by the DPRK in the near future. In 2019, the Director of National Intelligence told Congress North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities, even as it seeks to negotiate partial denuclearization steps to obtain key US and international concessions. If talks restart, U.S. negotiators and Members of Congress conducting oversight-could face the question of whether to aim for incremental dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear program in step with gradual sanctions relief, or to try for a big deal and demand that complete denuclearization precede full sanctions relief. A related question is whether the United States would accept partial denuclearization as an outcome of talks. The possibility of full sanctions relief is complicated by, among other factors, U.S. sanctions on North Korea for human rights abuses, money laundering, illicit weapons trade, international terrorism, and illicit cyber operations. No~rthi Kos N uc~ekr knrd Ws' Kim in 2018 publicly agreed to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, pledging permanent dismantlement of nuclear facilities in Yongbyon an important nuclear site as the United States takes corresponding measures. He partially dismantled North Korea's Sohae missile and satellite launch site, and agreed to fully dismantle the site if a deal was reached. He also dynamited the entrances to two nuclear test tunnels at Punggye-ri in May 2018 and said inspectors would be allowed to confirm the test site's dismantlement. As U.S.-DPRK talks stalled, these promises have gone unfulfilled. * North Korea has not tested a nuclear weapon or test- launched intercontinental ballistic missiles since November 2017, notwithstanding Kim's December 2019 warning that the moratoria no longer holds. * Since May 2019, North Korea has conducted over a dozen multiple short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) tests, in violation of United Nations (U.N.) prohibitions, likely advancing the reliability and precision of its missile forces and improving its capabilities to defeat regional missile defense systems. Trump has said he has no problem with North Korea's multiple short-range ballistic missile tests. * North Korea and China have restored close diplomatic relations. The relationship had been strained since Kim became leader in 2011.

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