WASHINGTON — Efforts to denuclearize North Korea will continue despite a new foreign minister in Pyongyang who is seen as a hard-liner and could take a tougher stance in stalled negotiations, a senior State Department official said Wednesday. The official would not forecast how the new foreign minister, Ri Son-gwon, who succeeds Ri Yong-ho, might approach negotiations with the United States over removing nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula. The official, citing diplomatic protocol to speak on the condition of anonymity, predicted the talks would restart, given what he said was a shared desire for progress on the part of President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. Despite frequent setbacks in the past year, Trump administration officials have publicly said they intend to continue with negotiations to settle on a denuclearization process, echoing Mr. Trump’s line.

Source: New York Times January 23, 2020 00:29 UTC