SINGAPORE: North Korea will not get any sanctions relief until it has demonstrated "irreversible" steps to denuclearisation, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday. "North Korea will receive relief only when it demonstrates verifiable and irreversible steps to denuclearisation," Mattis said during public remarks at a meeting with the South Korean and Japanese defence ministers. South Korean Defence Minister Song Young-moo said that given recent developments in North Korea, "one can be cautiously optimistic as we go forward". Washington wants North Korea to quickly give up all its nuclear weapons in a verifiable way in return for sanctions and economic relief. But analysts say North Korea will be unwilling to cede its nuclear deterrent unless it is given security guarantees that the US will not try to topple the regime.

Source: Bangkok Post June 03, 2018 02:03 UTC