North Korea is very hushed about the prospect of denuclearization - and it could be playing the US
- South Korea says North Korea made huge concessions in nuclear negotiations and is willing to talk to the US about disarming, but North Korean media mentions no such thing.
- This points to a few possible strategies North Korea may be playing out, and they range from innocent to sinister.
- The US responded to North Korea's talk of disarmament with cautious optimism, but stressed that use of military action to force Pyongyang to denuclearize is still on the table.
North Korean media has been very hushed about historic talks between South Korean officials and Kim Jong Un, which ended with representatives from Seoul declaring Kim had made massive nuclear concessions.
North Korea's most widely read domestic paper Rodong Sinmun made no mention of Kim's reported wish to denuclearize on its front page on Wednesday. On page six, the paper talks about North Korea as a "responsible nuclear power...preserv(ing) the values of parallel development of economy and nuclear weaponry," according to NK News.
The talk of growing the economy and nuclear program at the same time is one of Kim's consistent messages, and certainly doesn't acknowledge the massive about-face the South Koreans said he made during the talks.
In another North Korean publication, meant more for international consumption, Pyongyang bashed the US in its typical way, saying the US was "openly pushing ahead with its preparations for igniting a war of aggression in an attempt to reverse the atmosphere of detente on the Korean peninsula," according to the Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Cheng.
The incongruity between South Korea's reports of the negotiations, wherein Kim reportedly expressed a will to denuclearize and talk to the US, and North Korea's media, which continues to discuss nuclear development and the US as an instigator of war, points to a few possible motivations driving Pyongyang.
Possible motives
The most innocent explanation would suggest that North Korea does not yet want to publicize its concessions, and is awaiting a US response before talking openly of them to avoid potential embarrassment if the US rejects the concessions.
Or maybe, according to Yun Sun, a North Korea expert at the Stimson Center, is that South Korea oversold North Korea's promises. "South Korea has an innate interest to provide the most benevolent interpretation of what North Korea said," Sun previously told Business Insider.
The US has met North Korea's reported outreach with skepticism but cautious optimism, with some in the US pointing out that the Kim regime has backed out of nuclear negotiations before. The theory goes that North Korea may simply be trying to buy time to perfect its weapons programs or earn some sanctions relief by paying lip service to peace talks.
Another, more sinister motivation for Pyongyang could be driving a wedge between the US and its ally South Korea by exposing differences between the two countries' North Korea policies.
In South Korea, the government has sought more engagement with the North and remains exposed to the brunt of Pyongyang's military force if war breaks out, whereas the US has expressed a resolve to let North Korea wither under sanctions or go to war if necessary.
President Donald Trump hailing "possible progress" in the negotiations, and Vice President Mike Pence reemphasizing that the US may still use military force to sort out the conflict with Pyongyang.