SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea on Saturday reiterated it has no immediate plans to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States unless Washington discards what it describes as “hostile” polices toward Pyongyang.
The statement by North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui came after President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, told reporters in New York Thursday that Trump might seek another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as an “October surprise” ahead of the US presidential election.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who had lobbied hard to help set up the now-stalled negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, also expressed hope that Trump and Kim would meet again before the election in a video conference with European leaders on Tuesday.
Kim and Trump have met three times since embarking on their high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018, but negotiations have faltered since their second summit in February last year in Vietnam, where the Americans rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capability.
Kim entered 2020 vowing to bolster his nuclear deterrent in face of “gangster-like” US sanctions and pressure. Choe’s statement followed a series of similar declarations by the North that it would no longer gift Trump with high-profile meetings he could boast of as his foreign policy achievements unless it gets something substantial in return.
“Is it possible to hold dialogue or have any dealings with the US which persists in the hostile policy toward the DPRK in disregard of the agreements already made at the past summit?” Choe said, referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“We do not feel any need to sit face-to-face with the US, as it does not consider the DPRK-US dialogue as nothing more than a tool for grappling its political crisis,” she said.
Some analysts believe North Korea would avoid serious negotiations with the United States at least until the November presidential election as there’s a chance US leadership could change.
Choe said the North has already established a “detailed strategic timetable” for managing what she described as US threats.
“The US is mistaken if it thinks things like negotiations would still work on us,” she said.
The North in recent months have also been ramping up pressure against South Korea, blowing up an inter-Korean liaison office in its territory and threatening to abandon a bilateral military agreement aimed at reducing tensions. It follows months of frustration over Seoul’s unwillingness to defy US-led sanctions and restart joint economic projects that would breathe life into the North’s broken economy.
The North’s state media on Friday said that Kim, while supervising a Politburo meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party on Thursday, discussed “import issues related to the external affairs” but didn’t specify what they were.
North Korea: No plans to resume nuclear talks with US
https://arab.news/mbnyd
North Korea: No plans to resume nuclear talks with US
- Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump have met three times since embarking on their high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018
UN chief launches first global, independent scientific panel on artificial intelligence
- Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nominates 40 experts to serve on body ‘dedicated to helping close the AI knowledge gap and assess the real impacts of AI’
- It will ‘help the world separate fact from fakes, and science from slop … at a moment when reliable, unbiased understanding of AI has never been more critical,’ he adds
NEW YORK CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday formally launched what he described as the only global, independent scientific body focused on artificial intelligence, and submitted his recommendations for the experts to serve on it.
“It will be the first global, fully independent scientific body dedicated to helping close the AI knowledge gap and assess the real impacts of AI across economies and societies,” he told reporters in New York.
“And this could not be more urgent. AI is moving at the speed of light. No country can see the full picture alone.”
The Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence was established by the UN General Assembly through a resolution in August. Guterres said he has now submitted a list of 40 experts from all regions as his proposed candidates for the new body, which was mandated by world leaders under the UN’s Pact for the Future.
The panel is intended to provide authoritative, science-based analysis at a time when AI is developing rapidly and reshaping economies, governance and social life, but regulatory approaches remain fragmented.
Guterres underscored the need for shared understanding among countries to help develop effective safeguards, promote innovation for the common good, and strengthen international cooperation.
The UN said the panel would serve as a global reference point, helping policymakers and the public distinguish between reliable evidence and misinformation, and grounding debates on AI in independent scientific assessment.
The initiative comes amid growing concern over the societal, economic and security risks posed by unchecked technological competition.
“We need shared understandings to build effective guardrails, unlock innovation for the common good, and foster cooperation,” Guterres said.
“The panel will help the world separate fact from fakes, and science from slop. It will provide an authoritative reference point at a moment when reliable, unbiased understanding of AI has never been more critical.”
The proposed members of the panel were selected following an open global call that attracted more than 2,600 applicants, whose expertise spanned fields including machine learning, data governance, public health, cybersecurity, child development and human rights. The chosen candidates are expected to serve in a personal capacity, independent of governments, businesses or other institutions.
The panel will operate on an accelerated timeline, with its first report due in time to inform a Global Dialogue on AI Governance scheduled for July. UN officials said the findings were expected to support international efforts to build common ground on AI governance during a period of heightened geopolitical tensions and technological rivalry.
Guterres framed the initiative as part of a broader push to ensure that AI is shaped collectively, guided by scientific evidence and global solidarity, rather than allowing its development to outpace international cooperation.
