Our Friends in the North

North Korea Is Willing to Denuclearize, South Korea Says

Secretive regime won’t embark on new tests or “provocations” while talks are ongoing.

North Korea is willing to begin negotiations on abandoning its nuclear weapons and will suspend all nuclear and missile tests while talks are ongoing, South Korean officials said in a statement Tuesday, following two days of unprecedented meetings between senior South Korean officials and the North’s ruler, Kim Jong Un. “The North Korean side clearly stated its willingness to denuclearize,” the statement said. “It made it clear that it would have no reason to keep nuclear weapons if the military threat to the North was eliminated and its security guaranteed.” South Korea’s intelligence chief, Suh Hoon, and the country’s top national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, last night attended a four-hour long dinner with Kim, which, according to the North, “proceeded in a warm atmosphere overflowing with compatriotic feelings.” The thaw in relations between the two Koreas was accelerated by the North’s participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea last month.