U.S. Special Representative for N. Korea Policy Shoots Down Rumors Of Clandestine Peace Talks: 'There Are No Secret Dealings With The Chinese'
On Thursday, when State Department spokesman John Kirby alluded to the US exploring "the possibility that there could sort of be some sort of parallel process here," regarding a peace treaty between North and South Korea in addition to denuclearizing the former, it didn't take long for the conspiracy theories to start rolling in.
With government officials in Pyongyang calling for a peace agreement to replace the 1953 armistice that signaled the end of the Korean War and their counterparts in Seoul demanding the end to the North's nuclear program before any negotiation to begin, China has offered to pursue a "parallel process" in negotiations, according to the Korea Herald.
And though Kirby stressed in his briefing that "there has to be denuclearization on the peninsula" before any negotiations took place, that didn't stop the rumors that the US was secretly locking South Korea out of the negotiations.
In an interview on Tuesday with Korea's Yonhap news agency, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim clarified Kirby's comments.
"[Mr. Kirby was making] a general comment that we are open to credible, meaningful diplomacy. We certainly have made no decision to pursue any parallel talks or any other form," Kim said.
"I should also mention that throughout we have remained in very close contact with our colleagues in the ROK. Our communication is extremely close. I think we agree on every aspect of this. There is no secret dealing with the Chinese that Seoul is not aware of. Seoul is aware of everything that we are doing."
Kim questioned whether there was even any credibility to China's offer.
"They haven't actually officially made any serious proposal," he said.
