TEHRAN, October 11 - South Korea on Thursday walked back on a proposal to lift some of its unilateral sanctions against North Korea following President Donald Trump's blunt retort that Seoul could "do nothing" without Washington's approval.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha had said on Wednesday that Seoul was considering lifting measures applied after a deadly attack in 2010 that killed 46 South Korean sailors.
She cited the intent to create more diplomatic momentum for talks over North Korea's nuclear program. South Korean conservatives reacted with anger as well, and Kang's ministry downplayed her comments later, saying in a statement that the government has yet to start a "full-fledged" review on sanctions, meaning no decision was imminent.
Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told a parliamentary audit on Thursday there has been no serious consideration given to removing the sanctions and that doing so would be hard unless North Korea acknowledged responsibility for the 2010 attack. North Korea has fiercely denied it sunk the Cheonan warship.
Trump's response when he was asked about Kang's comments implied friction between the allies over the pace of inter-Korean engagement amid concerns in Washington that Pyongyang is lagging behind its supposed promise to denuclearize.
"They won't do that without our approval," Trump said. "They do nothing without our approval."
Trump has encouraged U.S. allies to maintain sanctions on North Korea until it denuclearizes as part of what his administration has termed a campaign of "maximum pressure" against Kim Jong Un's government.
Source: AP
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