Trump ready to end Korean war, says US envoy

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA

The U.S.’s special envoy on North Korea said President Donald Trump is “ready to end” the Korean war, local media reported.

“It is over, it is done. We are not going to invade North Korea. We are not seeking to topple the North Korean regime,” CNN quoted Steve Biegun as saying at Stanford.

Biegun said that he was “absolutely convinced, and more the president of the United States is convinced, that it's time to move past 70 years of war and hostility in the Korean peninsula”.

Trump and Kim are scheduled to meet over second summit this month “somewhere in Asia”, according to U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

However, Biegun said: “Before the process of denuclearization can be final, we must also have a complete understanding of the full extent of the North Korean weapons of mass destruction missile programs. We will get that at some point through a comprehensive declaration.”

In June 2018, Trump and Kim held a historic first summit, reaching an agreement, which critics have said is overly vague and has failed to produce meaningful progress in ridding North Korea of its nuclear arsenal.

The US envoy on Pyongyang made it clear that the U.S. troops would not be withdrawn from South Korea as a “concession to Kim”.

“We are not involved in any diplomatic discussion -- full stop -- that would suggest this tradeoff. It has never been discussed,” Biegun added.

The envoy said that the North Korean leader had committed to dismantle and destroy all of plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities if the United States takes "corresponding measures."

"Exactly what these measures are are a matter I plan to discuss with my North Korean counterpart during our next set of meetings," CNN quoted Biegun as saying.

Pyongyang is under UN sanctions since 2006 which has crippled its economy and allows no foreign investment. Earlier this week, Pyongyang sought relief in order to “boost trust”.

“Improvement in relations and sanctions cannot go side by side," Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the organ of the Kim’s ruling party, wrote on Wednesday.