The former U.S. diplomat who secured an American prisoner’s release from North Korea warned Tuesday against prioritizing human rights concerns or other non-nuclear matters in the upcoming summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un. Yun’s comments to a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee struck a chord with one of Trump’s staunchest congressional allies, who also stressed that it would be a mistake to focus on human rights if doing so could complicate the primary goal of denuclearization. “Look, we’re all about human rights,” said Sen. James E. Risch (R-Idaho). Both Cha and Yun said Tuesday that the Singapore summit cannot reasonably be considered a success unless North Korea agrees to make a full, detailed declaration of all its nuclear sites and fissile material. Previous attempts at denuclearization talks failed, both stressed, because North Korean negotiators refused to provide such a declaration.

Source: Washington Post June 05, 2018 22:09 UTC