FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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Korean Denuclearization Moving in the ‘Right Direction,’ U.S. State Department Reports

Aug. 15, 2018 (EIRNS)—In her Aug. 14 State Department briefing, spokeswoman Heather Nauert reported that talks between the U.S. and North Korea were making progress. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported the same day, citing an unnamed diplomatic source, that North Korea and the U.S. held the latest working-level meeting in Panmunjom last weekend, whose agenda was believed to have been on the issue of denuclearization, and that another working-level meeting may take place this week.

In her remarks, Nauert emphasized that behind-the-scenes discussions with Pyongyang have become a normal occurrence in the wake of President Trump’s meeting with Chairman Kim Jong-un in June in Singapore.

“We consider meetings, negotiations, conversations, as we move forward behind the scenes with those negotiations, to be moving in the right direction,” she said. “Conversations with the government of North Korea are becoming far more normal matters.”

Nauert offered no further details, but reiterated that

“we continue to have those conversations, because Chairman Kim has committed to President Trump that they are willing to denuclearize, and so we will continue in a full good faith effort to have those conversations move forward.”

She also said that the recent release of remains of American soldiers by Pyongyang is a “step in the right direction.”