'No sanctions relief sans step to denuclearize'

International Desk: North Korea will not get any sanctions relief until it has demonstrated "verifiable and irreversible" steps to denuclearization, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said Sunday.

The comments come less than 10 days before a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a high-stakes meeting that the US hopes will lead to North Korean nuclear disarmament.

"We can anticipate, at best, a bumpy road to the negotiation," said Mattis, who was speaking alongside South Korean and Japanese defense ministers at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security summit in Singapore that draws government officials and academics from around the world.

"We must maintain a strong collaborative defensive stance so we enable our diplomats to negotiate from a strong position of strength in this critical time," said Mattis.

"We must remain vigilant, and we will continue to implement all UN security council resolutions on North Korea. North Korea will receive relief only when it demonstrates verifiable and irreversible steps to denuclearization," added Mattis.

On Friday, Trump confirmed that his on-again off-again summit with Kim would go ahead on June 12, in a remarkable about-turn following a previous decision by the US President to cancel the meeting.

Trump's announcement follows negotiations between diplomats on both sides of the Pacific, intended to iron out the summit's final agenda.

The issue of denuclearization, long a sticking point between the two countries, remains the most contentious and challenging aspect of any potential deal.

The North Korean regime has historically shown an unwillingness to relinquish its nuclear capabilities, which it views as a guarantee of survival in the face of US intimidation.

Previously, the US has floated the idea of providing the North with economic assistance and sanctions relief should it agree to a timetable for abandoning its nuclear weapons program.

Source: Agencies

risingbd/Dhaka/June 03, 2018/A K Azad