Steve Biegun, the Trump administration’s North Korea negotiator, told reporters in an off the record briefing Sunday that the administration wanted a “complete freeze” of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program while they are negotiating with the U.S.
Between the lines: Biegun’s off the record remarks, made aboard Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s plane during the return trip to Washington from Korea, signaled he’s willing to be more flexible with North Korea than the hardliners in the Trump administration. Biegun said the administration isn’t ready to lift the sanctions against North Korea if it freezes its weapons program, but that it could give Kim other concessions, such as humanitarian relief and improved diplomatic ties.
- Biegun insisted, however, that the administration hasn’t abandoned its goal of “complete denuclearization.”
“What we are looking for is a complete freeze of WMD programs,” Biegun told reporters as he was returning to Washington on Sunday from the Korean Peninsula, according to notes from two sources familiar with his remarks. “Stop making things.” (Axios was not on the plane and therefore did not enter into any off the record agreement with the administration. The quotes in this story are from notes taken as Biegun spoke.)
- Biegun went on to say that the administration wanted “a freeze and an idea of an end state, and then within that we have a discussion of a roadmap” towards North Korea giving up their nuclear weapons.
- Biegun signaled several times in the off the record conversation that he was open to some give and take along the way to that goal, according to one of the sources.
- A State Department spokesperson declined to comment to Axios.
View the complete July 2 article by Jonathan Swan and Erica Pandey on the Axios website here.