Tag Archives: North Korea

Trump calls for firm response to North Korea, targets Seoul on trade

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) welcomes South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 30, 2017. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

By David Brunnstrom and Lisa Lambert

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump called for a determined response to North Korea after talks with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in on Friday where he stressed the importance of their alliance but took aim at Seoul over trade and sharing the cost of defense.

Trump said the United States was renegotiating what he characterized as a “rough” trade deal with South Korea agreed to five years ago by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and reiterated that an era of “strategic patience” over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs had ended.

“Together we are facing the threat of the reckless and brutal regime in North Korea,” Trump said as he stood alongside Moon in the White House Rose Garden. “The nuclear and ballistic missile programs of that regime require a determined response.”

Despite the tough rhetoric, it remains unclear how Trump will find a way forward on North Korea, which is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned the consequences of any military solution would be “tragic on an unbelievable scale.” Trump had pinned his hopes on persuading China, North Korea’s neighbor and main trading partner, to do more to rein in Pyongyang, although he has lately grown frustrated that Beijing has not taken stronger action.

Trump called on regional powers to implement sanctions and demand North Korea “choose a better path and do it quickly.”

Moon, who warned of a “stern response” to any provocations, urged Pyongyang to return promptly to talks.

“Our two leaders will employ both sanctions and dialogue in a phased and comprehensive approach,” Moon said of South Korea and the United States.

Trump and Moon have said they are open to renewed dialogue with North Korea but only under circumstances that would lead to Pyongyang giving up its weapons programs.

Moon told an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank that moves by North Korea that could create conditions for dialogue could include a freeze on its nuclear and missile tests, or the release of three Americans it is holding in the country.

To be successful, talks would have to involve North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and have as their ultimate aim the complete dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear program, he added.

Trump sought to woo China since a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in April but the honeymoon period appears to be over. On Thursday, the United States targeted a Chinese bank and sanctioned Chinese individuals and a firm for dealing with North Korea and approved a $1.42 billion arms deal with Taiwan – decisions that angered Beijing.

STEEL AND AUTOS

South Korea is a long-standing American ally but Trump has spoken harshly about U.S. trade imbalances and threatened to tear up the bilateral trade pact.

“We will do more to remove barriers to reciprocal trade and market access,” Trump said, adding that the two leaders had talked about the thorny trade areas of steel and autos.

Trump said he was encouraged by Moon’s assurances that he would seek a level playing field for American workers and businesses, particularly automakers.

A joint statement said the two sides had agreed to work together to reduce over supply of basic materials such as steel and non-tariff barriers. It also said Trump had accepted an invitation from Moon to visit South Korea this year.

Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said it was unwise for Trump to air the trade issue so publicly.

“Public complaints by Trump about unfair trade and inadequate defense spending provide opportunities for China and North Korea to drive a wedge between the allies,” she said.

Trump also emphasized the need to ensure equitable sharing of costs for defense, returning to a theme he raised during his campaign and brought up with other allies, including NATO countries and Japan.

A senior U.S. official said in a briefing before the president’s meeting with Moon that South Korea was in many respects a “model ally,” given its spending of 2.7 percent of GDP on defense and Moon’s plan to grow capabilities.

“We shouldn’t view South Korea as somehow laggard on that front,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. goods trade deficit with South Korea has more than doubled since the U.S.-Korea free trade pact known as KORUS took effect in 2012. The agreement was forecast to boost U.S. exports by $10 billion a year, but in 2016 they were $3 billion lower than in 2011.

At the start of Friday’s talks, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the largest component of the deficit was automotive trade and many non-tariff barriers to U.S. auto exports to South Korea remained.

“I think the way to address it is to deal product by product with what we can do to change the export side and what we can do to reduce the bad imports side,” he said.

Ross said later on Friday that some progress had been made in the talks.

The current pact was agreed to despite protests by supporters of Moon, who was then in opposition. But analysts have suggested that given the need to preserve a unified front in the face of a hostile North Korea, there could be compromise on both sides to resolve issues.

(Additional reporting by Fatima Bhojani, Roberta Rampton, Tim Ahmann, David Chance, David Lawder and Eric Beech; Editing by Bill Trott and Andrew Hay)

Trump to press South Korea leader on trade as North Korea looms

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the White House in Washington, U.S., June 29, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will press South Korean President Moon Jae-in to solve trade differences over cars and steel in meetings in Washington focusing on the nuclear threat from North Korea.

Concerns about the U.S. military’s THAAD missile defense system and China’s role in the region also are likely to come up in talks between Trump and Moon at the White House.

Moon, making his first trip to the United States since becoming his country’s president in May, joined Trump and his wife, Melania, for dinner in the White House State Dining Room on Thursday evening ahead of further talks on Friday.

“I know you’ve been discussing with our people some of the complexities of North Korea and trade and other things, and we’ll be discussing them all as we progress, and it could be very well late into the evening,” Trump told Moon.

“I’d like to also congratulate you upon your election victory. It was a great victory, and you did a fantastic job. A lot of people didn’t expect that, and I did expect it. I thought that was going to happen.”

Both men have an interest in building a strong relationship but tensions could puncture that effort.

Trump has spoken harshly about U.S. trade imbalances with South Korea and threatened to tear up a trade agreement with the country. Moon has taken a wary stance on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system that the United States deployed in South Korea in March.

“I think they’ll have a friendly and frank discussion about the trade relationship,” a White House official told reporters on Wednesday, noting concerns about barriers to U.S. auto sales and surplus Chinese steel that arrives in the United States via South Korea.

After the dinner, Trump tweeted that he had a “very good meeting” with Moon and that “many subjects (were) discussed including North Korea and new trade deal!”

The U.S. goods trade deficit with South Korea has more than doubled since the KORUS pact took effect in 2012, from $13.2 billion in 2011 to $27.7 billion in 2016. It was forecast to boost U.S. exports by $10 billion a year but they were $3 billion lower in 2016 than in 2011.

In an interview with Reuters in April, Trump called the 5-year-old trade deal “horrible” and said he would either renegotiate or terminate it.

During remarks at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Moon said unfair trade practices would be eradicated and factors that limited competition, such as market entry barriers and price regulations, would be re-evaluated under his administration.

Trump has made challenging trade agreements a hallmark of his administration since taking office in January.

NORTH KOREA FOCUS

Despite tensions over that issue, his meetings with Moon are likely to focus largely on North Korea.

Moon has said he wants to form a friendship with the former New York businessman and find common ground on how to resolve the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Trump wants to build ties with an important new leader in the region as he grows frustrated that his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping has not resulted in stronger action by Beijing to rein in Pyongyang.

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Chinese citizens and a shipping company for helping North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and accused a Chinese bank of laundering money for Pyongyang.

The Trump administration also announced it plans to sell Taiwan about $1.42 billion in arms.

Moon told Reuters in an interview last week he wanted to discuss a two-phased approach to resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, starting with a freeze on North Korea’s nuclear and missile development followed by complete dismantlement.

“I am planning to have frank and open discussions with President Trump on the step-by-step approach,” he said.

The THAAD defense system could be a sticking point.

Moon, who has advocated a more moderate approach toward Pyongyang, expressed shock late last month upon learning that four more launchers for the controversial system had been brought into the country. He ordered an investigation after his Defense Ministry failed to inform him of the move.

The system, whose installation irritated China, is meant to counter the threat from North Korea’s missile program. The White House said it did not expect THAAD to be a major point of conversation and Moon is expected to assure Washington that his recent decision to postpone full THAAD deployment to conduct an environmental review was a measure to follow domestic law.

Despite potential areas of disagreement, the two leaders are expected to express common resolve over threats from North Korea.

“The similarities in our approaches are already evident,” the White House official said, noting that both men had expressed willingness to engage with Pyongyang under the right conditions. “Even once the conditions may present themselves, to enter into dialogue we must maintain and actually increase pressure on North Korea. That’s President Moon’s approach; it’s President Trump’s approach.”

(additional reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Bill Trott and Tom Brown)

U.S. targets Chinese bank, company, two individuals over North Korea

The flag of North Korea is seen in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2017. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy

By Joel Schectman and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States imposed sanctions on two Chinese citizens and a shipping company on Thursday for helping North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and accused a Chinese bank of laundering money for Pyongyang.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the actions were designed to cut off funds that North Korea uses to build its weapons programs in defiance of U.N. Security Council and unilateral sanctions.

“We will follow the money and cut off the money,” he told a news conference.

A Treasury statement identified the bank as the Bank of Dandong and the firm as Dalian Global Unity Shipping Co Ltd. It identified the two individuals as Sun Wei and Li Hong Ri.

The sanctions imposed on the two Chinese citizens and the shipping company blacklists them from doing business with U.S.-tied companies and people.

Bank of Dandong did not respond immediately to a request for comment. A staff member at Dalian Global Unity would not comment on the sanctions and subsequent calls to the firm’s office in Dalian went unanswered.

Mnuchin said U.S. officials were continuing to look at other companies that may be helping North Korea and may roll out additional sanctions.

U.S. foreign policy experts say Chinese companies have long had a key role in financing Pyongyang. However, Mnuchin said the action was not being taken to send China a message. “This wasn’t aimed at China. We continue to work with them,” he said.

Asked about the U.S. sanctions on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang said that China consistently opposes unilateral sanctions imposed outside the U.N. framework.

“We strongly urge the United States to immediately correct its relevant wrong moves to avoid affecting bilateral cooperation on the relevant issue,” he said, without elaborating.

China’s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, said China opposed the United States using domestic laws to impose “long-arm jurisdiction” on Chinese companies or individuals, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

“If a Chinese company or individual has acted in a way that violates United Nations Security Council resolutions, then China will investigate and handle the issue in accordance with Chinese law,” he told an event in Washington on Thursday evening.

GROWING FRUSTRATION

U.S. officials told Reuters this week that President Donald Trump was growing increasingly frustrated with China over its inaction on North Korea and bilateral trade issues, and was now considering possible trade actions against Beijing.

A senior White House official told reporters on Wednesday China was “falling far short of what it could bring to bear on North Korea in terms of pressure.”

The U.S. move came as Trump was due to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House on Thursday to discuss steps to push North Korea to abandon its weapons programs, which have become an increasing threat to the United States.

It also came after the United States sanctioned a Chinese industrial machinery wholesaler, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co, in September for its ties to North Korea’s nuclear program, the first time Washington had taken such a step against a Chinese firm.

China’s Foreign Ministry said in the same month Hongxiang was under investigation for “illegal behavior” and “economic crimes” following the provisions of U.N. resolution 2270, which imposed tighter sanctions on North Korea in March.

Mnuchin said the United States would discuss efforts to choke off funding for North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs with China and other countries at next week’s Group of 20 summit in Germany.

The U.S. Treasury Department said in an online notice published on Thursday the Bank of Dandong had served as a gateway for North Korea to access the U.S. financial system. Authorities said 17 percent of Dandong’s customer transactions in the bank’s U.S. accounts had ties to North Korea.

Anthony Ruggiero, a former senior Treasury official in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, said the action against Bank of Dandong was the first time U.S. authorities had sought to punish a Chinese bank accused of helping North Korea.

It would immediately cause Western firms to cut off any transactions with Bank of Dandong, he said. It may also cause financial institutions in Western Europe and the United States to further scrutinize whether their Chinese business could have links to North Korea.

“The designation will make reputable Western banks ask questions about larger financial institutions in China,” said Ruggiero, who is now a senior fellow at the non-profit Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Joel Schectman; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in WASHINGTON, and Meng Meng, Shu Zhang, Ben Blanchard and Christian Shepherd in BEIJING; Editing by Diane Craft and Paul Tait)

North Korea calls for execution of ex-South Korea leader over ‘assassination’ plot

South Korean ousted leader Park Geun-hye arrives at a court in Seoul, South Korea, May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea said on Wednesday it has issued a standing order for the execution of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her spy chief for what it said was a plot to assassinate its leader, and it demanded that the South hand the pair over.

The North’s official KCNA said “revelation showed” Park had masterminded a plot to execute its “supreme leadership” in 2015 and it was imposing the “death penalty on traitor Park Geun-hye” and her spy chief, Lee Byung-ho.

KCNA did not disclose the source of the “revelation,” but a Japanese newspaper reported this week that Park in 2015 approved a plan to overturn the North Korean regime of leader Kim Jong Un.

Park was ousted in March over a corruption scandal and is in detention in South Korea while on trial.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS) said it was “unpardonable” that North Korea made threats against its citizens and said the news report of a plot to kill Kim Jong Un “had no grounds.”

Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with Park’s North Korea policy, that Park had signed off on a plot to remove the North’s leader in 2015 and the plan was orchestrated by the South’s spy agency.

“We declare at home and abroad that we will impose the death penalty on traitor Park Geun-hye and ex-director of the puppet intelligence service … criminals of hideous state-sponsored terrorism who hatched and pressed for the heinous plot to hurt the supreme leadership of the DPRK,” KCNA said.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.

“We declare that in case the U.S. and the South Korean puppet forces again attempt at hideous state-sponsored terrorism targeting the supreme leadership … we will impose summary punishment without advance notice,” KCNA said.

KCNA said the statement was issued jointly by the North’s Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of People’s Security and the Central Public Prosecutors Office.

North and South Korea are technically in a state of war under a truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, and the North routinely warns of annihilating the South Korean government.

North Korean government agencies often issue harsh rhetoric in state media over perceived insults, or what they see as threats to the security of their leaders. The trend has intensified under Kim Jong Un.

In May, North Korea accused the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the South’s spy agency of another plot to assassinate its “supreme leadership” with biochemical weapon.

At that time, it also demanded the handover of former NIS chief Lee.

(Editing by Robert Birsel and Leslie Adler)

Exclusive: China’s CNPC suspends fuel sales to North Korea as risks mount – sources

FILE PHOTO: PetroChina's logo is seen at its petrol station in Beijing, China, March 21, 2016. Picture taken March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

By Chen Aizhu

BEIJING (Reuters) – China National Petroleum Corp has suspended sales of fuel to North Korea over concerns the state-owned oil company won’t get paid, as pressure mounts on Pyongyang to rein in its nuclear and missile programmes, three sources told Reuters.

It’s unclear how long the suspension will last. A prolonged cut would threaten critical supplies of fuel and force North Korea to find alternatives to its main supplier of diesel and gasoline, as scrutiny of China’s close commercial ties with its increasingly isolated neighbour intensifies.

CNPC and the Ministry of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment. North Korea’s embassy in Beijing declined to comment.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about the sale suspension and whether the Chinese government put pressure on CNPC to make this decision, said: “I do not understand this situation you are talking about” and declined to elaborate.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter said CNPC decided to put fuel sales on hold “over the last month or two” and described it as a “commercial decision”.

“It’s no longer worth the risks,” said the source. Chinese and international banks are stepping up compliance checks on companies dealing with countries on the U.S. sanctions list, such as North Korea, he said.

The North Korean agents who mostly buy the diesel and gasoline have been unable recently to pay for the supplies — CNPC normally requires upfront payments, the source said.

Reuters was unable to determine if the agents have started facing credit problems with Chinese and international banks worried about sanctions compliance issues.

Two other sources briefed about CNPC’s decision confirmed the suspension of diesel sales, but did not know directly about the gasoline move. The three people declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter and are not authorised to speak to the media.

PRICES SURGE IN NORTH

Last year, China shipped just over 96,000 tonnes of gasoline and almost 45,000 tonnes of diesel worth a combined $64 million to North Korea, where it is used across the economy from fishermen and farmers to truckers and the military.[O/CHINA4]

Most of that was sold by CNPC, which has grown over the past two decades to dominate China’s energy trade with Pyongyang.

Data for May released on Friday showed China supplied significantly lower volumes of diesel and gasoline compared with a month earlier, although monthly tonnages can vary widely. June data will be released in late July.

Fuel prices in North Korea, meanwhile, have sharply risen in recent months, suggesting a tightening in supply.

A Reuters analysis of data collected by Daily NK showed the price of gasoline sold by private dealers in Pyongyang and the northern border cities of Sinuiju and Hyesan had hit $1.46 per kg on June 21, up almost 50 percent from April 21. Until then, they had remained relatively stable since late last year.

Diesel prices averaged $1.20 per kg as of June 21, more than double over the same period, according to Daily NK, a website run by defectors who collect prices via phone calls with North Korean fuel traders.

U.S SCRUTINY

North Korea’s unprecedented pace of nuclear and ballistic missile tests has prompted China, which handles 90 percent of North Korea’s trade, to start squeezing Pyongyang.

In February, Beijing suspended coal purchases until the end of the year, cutting off North Korea’s main export revenue source. In 2016, North Korea sold 22.5 million tonnes of coal to China, worth about $1.9 billion, according to Chinese customs.

The United States has pressed China to exert more economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea, but Beijing has said its influence on North Korea is limited and it is doing all it can.

President Donald Trump, frustrated over Beijing’s inaction on North Korea and bilateral trade issues, is now considering possible trade actions against China, three senior administration officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

The sources in China saw no sign yet that Beijing is cutting crude oil to Pyongyang. China has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years, but industry sources say it supplies via an aging pipeline about 520,000 tonnes of crude a year to North Korea, worth about $170 million at current market prices.

North Korea imports all its oil needs, mostly from China and a much smaller amount from Russia.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu in BEIJING; additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; in SEOUL, Lusha Zhang and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Josephine Mason and Bill Tarrant)

U.S. worries Russia could step up North Korea support to fill China void

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley testifies to the House Appropriations State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee on the budget for the U.N. in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 27, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – As the United States pressures China to enforce United Nations sanctions on its ally North Korea, Washington is concerned that Russia could provide support to Pyongyang and fill any vacuum left by Beijing, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday.

“I’m concerned that Russia may backfill North Korea,” Haley told U.S. lawmakers in Washington. “We don’t have proof of that, but we are watching that carefully.”

While Washington has urged countries to downgrade ties with Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, a cross-border ferry service was launched in May between North Korea and neighboring Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the world should talk to, rather than threaten, North Korea.

“We just need to keep the pressure on China, we need to keep our eyes on Russia, and we need to continue to let the North Korea regime know we are not looking for regime change … we just want them to stop the nuclear activity,” Haley said.

The U.N. Security Council first imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs and has ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear tests and two long-range missile launches. The government in Pyongyang is threatening a sixth nuclear test.

The Trump administration has been pressing China aggressively to rein in its reclusive neighbor, warning that all options are on the table if Pyongyang persists with its nuclear and missile development programs.

Beijing has repeatedly said its influence on North Korea is limited and that it is doing all it can, but U.S. President Donald Trump last week said China’s efforts had failed.

The United States has struggled to slow North Korea’s programs, which have become a security priority given Pyongyang’s vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.

“The pressure on China can’t stop,” Haley said. “We have to have China doing what they’re supposed to. At the same time all other countries need to make sure they’re enforcing the sanctions that the Security Council has already put in place.”

Trump, increasingly frustrated with China over its inaction on North Korea and bilateral trade issues, is now considering possible trade actions against Beijing, senior administration officials told Reuters.

The United States also plans to place China on its global list of worst offenders in human trafficking and forced labor, sources said, a step that could aggravate tensions with Beijing.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, editing by G Crosse)

New U.S. ambassador to China says North Korea a top priority

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) holds an umbrella over U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, former governor of Iowa, as they arrive together aboard Air Force One at Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S. June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

BEIJING (Reuters) – The new U.S. ambassador to China has said that stopping the threat posed by North Korea will be a top priority, along with resolving the U.S.-China trade imbalance, according to a video message to the Chinese people released on Monday.

Terry Branstad, a former Iowa governor, has been described by Beijing as an “old friend” of China. Branstad was confirmed on May 22 as President Donald Trump’s new ambassador to China but his arrival date has yet to be announced.

“Resolving the bilateral trade imbalance, stopping the North Korea threat, and expanding people-to-people ties will be my top priorities,” Branstad said in the video message, which was released on a popular Chinese video-streaming platform.

Trump has placed high hopes on China and its president, Xi Jinping, exerting greater influence on North Korea, although he said last week Chinese efforts to rein in the reclusive North’s nuclear and missile programs had failed.

China’s foreign ministry regularly says that Beijing is doing all that it can with regard to North Korea by implementing United Nations Security Council sanctions, while also pushing for greater dialogue to reduce tensions.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he had pressed China to ramp up economic and political pressure on North Korea during his meeting with top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Washington last week.

“We face many of the same challenges. A strong U.S.-China relationship can contribute to solutions,” Branstad said in the video, without giving details about how he hoped to work with China.

Branstad also recounted his three decades of engagement with China, from his first visit there in 1984 to hosting Xi, then a county-level Communist Party leader, in Iowa in 1985, and then again in 2012 when Xi was vice president.

Trump pledged during his campaign to take a tough stance on Chinese trade practices deemed unfair to the United States, but his rhetoric softened after a friendlier-than-expected meeting with Xi in Florida in April.

Shortly after their meeting, Trump said he had told Xi that China would get a better trade deal if it worked to rein in the North. China is neighboring North Korea’s lone major ally.

The United States ran a trade deficit of $347 billion with China last year, U.S. Treasury figures show.

(This story corrects date of ambassador’s confirmation to May 22, not May 24, paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Editing by Paul Tait)

China, U.S. agree on aim of ‘complete, irreversible’ Korean denuclearization

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the newly-built Dental Sanitary Goods Factory in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) June 20, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters) – China and the United States agreed that efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula should be “complete, verifiable and irreversible”, Chinese state media said on Saturday, reporting the results of high level talks in Washington this week.

“Both sides reaffirm that they will strive for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” a consensus document released by the official Xinhua news agency said.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said on Thursday that the United States pressed China to ramp up economic and political pressure on North Korea, during his meeting with top Chinese diplomats and defense chiefs.

China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and General Fang Fenghui met Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis during the talks. Yang later met with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House, where they also discussed North Korea, Xinhua reported.

The consensus document also highlighted the need to fully and strictly hold to U.N. Security Council resolutions and push for dialogue and negotiation, which has long been China’s position on the issue.

Military-to-military exchanges should also be upgraded and mechanisms of notification established in order to cut the risks of “judgment errors” between the Chinese and U.S. militaries, the statement also said.

Chinese state media described the talks, the first of their kind with the Trump administration, as an upgrade in dialogue mechanisms between China and the United States, following on from President Xi Jiping’s meeting with Trump in Florida in April.

Xi and Trump are next expected to meet again in Hamburg during the G20 Summit next month.

A day last week’s talks, President Donald Trump said China’s efforts to use its leverage with North Korea had failed, raising fresh doubts about his administration’s strategy for countering the threat from North Korea.

The death of American university student Otto Warmbier earlier this week, after his release from 17 months of imprisonment in Pyongyang, further complicated Trump’s approach to North Korea.

China, North Korea’s main trading partner, has been accused of not fully enforcing existing U.N. sanctions on its neighbor, and has resisted some tougher measures.

Washington has considered further “secondary sanctions” against Chinese banks and other firms doing business with North Korea, which China opposes.

(Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Editing by Simo cameron-Moore)

North Korea says U.S. student’s death a ‘mystery to us as well’

FILE PHOTO - Otto Frederick Warmbier (C), a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea since early January, is taken to North Korea's top court in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo March 16, 2016. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo

By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea said on Friday the death of U.S. university student Otto Warmbier soon after his return home was a mystery and dismissed accusations that he had died because of torture and beating during his captivity as “groundless”.

The North’s foreign ministry spokesman also said in comments carried by the official KCNA agency that Warmbier was “a victim of the policy of strategic patience” of former U.S. President Barack Obama whose government never requested his release.

“The fact that Warmbier died suddenly in less than a week just after his return to the U.S. in his normal state of health indicators is a mystery to us as well,” the spokesman was quoted by KCNA as saying.

Warmbier, 22, was arrested in the reclusive country while visiting as a tourist. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his hotel, North Korea state media said.

He was brought back to the United States last week in a coma with brain damage, in what doctors described as state of “unresponsive wakefulness”, and died on Monday.

His death heightened the conflict between the North and the United States already aggravated by North Korea’s defiant missile launches and two nuclear tests since early last year as part of its effort to build a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.

U.S. President Donald Trump blamed “the brutality of the North Korean regime” for Warmbier’s death and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who had advocated dialogue with the North, said Pyongyang had a “heavy responsibility” in the events leading up to the American’s death.

The North’s spokesman said such accusations are part of a smear campaign to slander the country that had given “medical treatments and care with all sincerity” to a person who was “clearly a criminal”.

U.S. doctors who had traveled to the North last week to evacuate Warmbier had recognized that the North had “provided him with medical treatment and brought him back alive whose heart was nearly stopped,” the unnamed ministry spokesman said.

“Although Warmbier was a criminal who committed a hostile act against the DPRK, we accepted the repeated requests of the present U.S. administration and, in consideration of his bad health, sent him back home on humanitarian grounds,” the spokesman said.

DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The exact cause of Warmbier’s death remains unclear. Officials at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was treated after his return from the North, declined to provide details, and his family asked the Hamilton County Coroner on Tuesday not to perform an autopsy.

Thousands of friends and family members gathered at Wyoming High School in suburban Cincinnati on Thursday for a memorial service for Warmbier, who graduated from the school as salutatorian in 2013.

The United States has demanded North Korea release three other U.S. citizens it holds in detention: missionary Kim Dong Chul and academics Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song.

Warmbier was freed after the U.S. State Department’s special envoy on North Korea, Joseph Yun, traveled to Pyongyang and demanded the student’s release on humanitarian grounds, capping a flurry of diplomatic contacts, a U.S. official has said.

The North previously released American detainees it had accused and convicted of crimes against the state on the occasion of high-level visits by U.S. officials.

(Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Nick Macfie)

North Korea tests rocket engine, possibly for ICBM: U.S. officials

A North Korean flag is pictured at its embassy in Beijing January 6, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea has carried out another test of a rocket engine that the United States believes could be part of its program to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, a U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday.

The United States assessed that the test, the latest in a series of engine and missile trials this year, could be for the smallest stage of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) rocket engine, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A second U.S. official also confirmed the test but did not provide additional details on the type of rocket component that was being tested or whether it fit into the ICBM program.

One official said he believed the test had taken place within the past 24 hours.

North Korea’s state media, which is normally quick to publicize successful missile-related developments, did not carry any reports on the engine test.

South Korean officials did not have details about the reported test and declined to comment on the possible nature of the engine.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China opposed any action that violated UN Security Council resolutions and called for restraint from all parties.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who was elected last month on a platform of a more moderate approach to Pyongyang including dialogue to ease tension, inspected the test-launch of a ballistic missile on Friday that is being developed by the South’s military.

“I believe in dialogue, but dialogue is possible when it’s backed by strong defense and engagement policy is possible only when we have security ability that can overwhelm the North,” Moon was quoted by his office as saying at the test site.

Moon’s office did not disclose the details of the missile being tested, but South Korea has been working to develop ballistic missiles with a range of 800 km (500 miles), a voluntary cap under an agreement with the United States.

The United States has tried for years to discourage South Korea from developing longer-range ballistic missiles in keeping with the Missile Technology Control Regime, a voluntary international arms-control pact.

CHINA PRESSED TO EXERT PRESSURE

The disclosure of the North’s engine test came a day after the United States pressed China to exert more economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to help rein in its nuclear and missile programs during a round of high-level talks in Washington.

Moon told Reuters in an exclusive interview on Thursday that strong new sanctions would be needed if the North conducted a new nuclear test or an intercontinental ballistic missile test and that he planned to call on Chinese President Xi Jinping to play a greater role in reining in Pyongyang’s arms program.

However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman questioned such calls.

“When the world says that it hopes China can do even more, I don’t know what ‘do even more’ refers to,” Geng told a daily news briefing in Beijing on Friday.

“We’ve said many times that China is making unremitting efforts to resolve the Korean peninsula nuclear issue, and plays an active and constructive role,” he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible over its weapons programs, although U.S. officials say tougher sanctions, not military force, are the preferred option.

China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, told Trump in a meeting at the White House that Beijing was willing to “maintain communication and coordination” with the United States in an effort to defuse tension on the Korean peninsula, according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday.

The head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency told Congress last month that North Korea, if left unchecked, was on an “inevitable” path to obtaining a nuclear-armed missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

However, experts say Pyongyang could still be years away from have a reliable ICBM capability.

The continental United States is around 5,600 miles (9,000 km) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 3,400 miles (5,500 km), but some are designed to travel 6,200 miles (10,000 km) or farther.

Any military solution to the North Korea crisis would be “tragic on an unbelievable scale”, Trump’s defense secretary, Jim Mattis, said last month.

The United States, meanwhile, is ramping up capabilities to defend against the threat from North Korea, staging its first-ever successful test to intercept an incoming ICBM-type missile in May.

But a test on June 21 of a new capability being developed by the United States and Japan to defend against shorter-range missiles failed to hit its target, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Thursday.

It was the second such test of the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor, which is being developed by Raytheon <RTN.N>. The previous intercept test, conducted in February, had been successful.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Additional reporting by Christine Kim and Jack Kim in SEOUL and Michael Martina in BEIJING; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Lincoln Feast and Paul Tait)