Vice President (VP) of the United States (US), Mike Pence said in a statement to reporters before commencing his six-day tour that on his last leg of the tour, when he gets to South Korea, he does not rule out the possibility of meeting senior North Korean officials. Although no meetings with North Korea were implied in his schedule, he implied that it could still happen.
President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday while at White House that people should not read the VP’s statement as North Korea is not willing to negotiate with the US. Pence is on a six-day tour to sensitize ally countries of the dangers North Korea poses to them in a bid to pressure the troubled nation into giving up their nuclear program.
North Korea Implies no Talks
The North Korea state media stated that the nation has no intention whatsoever of meeting the US delegation during the Winter Olympics set to start in South Korea on Friday. Jo Yong Sam, the director-general of the North American department of North Korea’s foreign ministry, said that North Korea has never begged for a dialogue with the US. He also added that they will never beg for one in future. The statements are as cited by the North’s KCNA news agency.
Jo Yong Sam also added that they had no intention of meeting with the US side during their stay in South Korea. He claimed that the only reason for their delegation’s visit to South Korea was to take part in the sports and hail its success.
North Korea’s clarification may dampen hopes that the Winter Olympics games could have been an avenue through which a tense standoff between the North and other nations in the context of a nuclear threat from the North could be suppressed.
Arrivals at South Korea Winter Games
US VP Mike Pence described North Korea as the world’s most tyrannical regime on Wednesday while in Japan. He is expected to arrive in South Korea on Thursday before the opening ceremony for the games in a Pyeongchang.
Attending the ceremony is also a delegation from North Korea comprised of Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong and Kim Yong Nam, the North’s nominal head of state. Kim Yo Jong and other members of her entourage are expected to fly in by a private jet to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, Friday afternoon. The information was ascertained after the North confirmed to South Korea.
