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US administration undermining Trump’s outreach to North Korea: Analyst

Tuesday, 14 May 2019 5:36 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 14 May 2019 6:19 PM ]

James Jatras

US President Donald Trump’s outreach to North Korea is being undermined by his administration, according to an American analyst.

Last week, a North Korean cargo ship was confiscated by the US which met with Pyongyang's strong protest.

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North Korea says the seizure of one of its cargo ships by the US violates the spirit of a summit deal between the leaders of the two countries in June 2018.

In a statement by North Korea’s foreign ministry run by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang condemned to the move, demanding the ship be immediately released.

It said the illegal move by Washington violated the spirit of a summit deal between the leaders of the two countries in June 2018.

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After signing the document with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, US President Donald Trump said denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula would begin “very quickly.”

Former US Senate policy adviser and diplomat James George Jatras told Press TV in an interview on Tuesday that the seizure of the ship was another effort by the administration to undermine US President Donald Trump’s outreach to North Korea. "Seizure of this North Korean ship, and the fact that the North Koreans have censured the United States for doing so, I think is just another indication that the effort by people in the Trump administration to undermine President Trump’s outreach to North Korea is unfortunately becoming more successful," he said.

Jatras also held the administration responsible for the failure of the leaders’ summit in Hanoi this year. “Remember how the Hanoi summit was tanked by unreasonable US demands,” Jatras noted.

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Jatras said the administration wanted to put an end to the two leaders’ peace efforts. “This is another step in making sure that that agenda cannot move forward,” he said.

The American analyst maintained the seizure of the ship was not related to recent missile launches by Pyongyang. “I don’t think it is necessarily related to the recent North Korean missile test. Although, that is another indication that this initiative really is not moving forward the way it should,” Jatras reasoned.

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“As far as the seizure itself, the United States is claiming that we are simply enforcing Security Council sanctions that unfortunately the Russians and the Chinese agreed to,” he added.

“To my mind in a foolish attempt to reign in recklessness from Washington and unfortunately I think that has had exactly the opposite result,” Jatras concluded.

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