Trump administration has 'reached out' to North Korea, wants to resume nuclear talks

(Image credit: Dong-A Ilbo via Getty Images)

published 13 January 2020

White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told Axios in an interview published Sunday that President Trump wants to resume diplomacy with North Korea, and has made overtures.

"We've reached out to the North Koreans and let them know that we would like to continue the negotiations in Stockholm that were last undertaken in early October," O'Brien said. Those working-level nuclear talks were called off before anything was agreed upon, with North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Myong Gil, saying the United States would "not give up their old viewpoint and attitude."

In December, Kim warned the United States that his country would send a "Christmas gift," which many experts thought referred to a missile test. "All we know is we were told we were going to get a Christmas gift and the Christmas gift didn't come," O'Brien said. "And so I think that was an encouraging sign. But, again, that doesn't mean we won't see some sort of test in the future."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.