denuclearization is a fundamental element of a lasting peace on the korean peninsula. thus, as we endeavor to engage the north before, during and perhaps beyond pyeongchang, we do so in clear sight of the denuclearization imperative. the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of north korea remains the unwavering goal of the korean government and the international community, and as long as north korea continues down the path of nuclear development sanctions will remain in place and korea will continue to work closely with the international community to force a change of course on north korea. the fundamental resolution of the korean peninsula-related issues cannot be achieved without the denuclearization of north korea and we will continue to seek realistic and effective ways to resume denuclearization talks at the earliest possible date. friends and colleagues, almost 70 years ago members of the international community sent troops and humanitarian aid to help defend a fledgling democracy in the southern half of the korean peninsula. we, the korean peop

involving the korean peninsula.tical moment where relations are kind of improving on the korean peninsula, this kind of gesture is not welcomed. and maybe very, very destructive of the fragile situation on the korean peninsula. there are concerns that china is not holding up concerns that china is not holding up on its end of the agreement on sanctions on north korea. and that is why they were excluded from these talks. are these justified? is why they were excluded from these talks. are these justified ?|j personally talks. are these justified?” personally don't think these concerns 01’ personally don't think these concerns or allegations are justified. i think china is doing everything necessary to do. under the united nations security council resolutions. anything above the resolutions. anything above the resolutions needs to be discussed and approved by the united nations security council. further, i think, philosophically speaking, sanctions themselves are necessary, but may not be sufficient to achieve the goa

easement of tensions on the korean peninsula and hopefully a resolution to the nuclear issue that has been rising in this region which is affecting the world mr pat is this purely an attempt by the north korean koreans to test waters or do you think that this could be a genuine attempt to move forward and solve the long disputes between all the parties well i think. it is genuine. but of course it really depends on the patient. if. this is going to be killed. there's asian or north koreans policy you know it's not going to happen but it is they are a genuine attempt i think to his work in chains and trying to bring on some degree of normalcy situation mr chum the reason why i was asking the question about the real reasons behind the of virtue is because it brings back memories of from one nine hundred eighty eight during the winter olympics in salt north korean stepped in the said they would like to. join a unified team then they said they wanted to co-host the games with the south korea's then they pulled out in created an international crisis back then is there any political agenda

games so these are certainly big breakthroughs let's take a look at what has gone on on the korean peninsula as we've seen the two koreas in gaging in dialogue with each other in recent weeks. to sound much together in the opening ceremony under the korean. female ice hockey team. now furthermore i it's important to note that in trump's rhetoric he didn't just lash out in north korea he said that while he praised china for some of their efforts he said that they hadn't gone far enough in helping to economically isolate north korea and from there he actually criticized russia and said that they were not helping at all now russia has many times stated that they are a signatory to the international sanctions against north korea and that they have never actually breached them now with his criticism not just of north korea but also of russia and china trump continued to emphasize that he believed it was his strong armed approach and threats and sanctions and further isolation and punishment of a country that was the best way to create peace on the korean peninsula from new york and so a correspon

and given china's importance involving the korean peninsula situation, any effort excluding china andthe peninsula may actually be futile at least. what is your view of the current falling of relations between north and south korea and both sides agreeing to participate in the upcoming winter olympics under one unified flag? the current direct dialogue and negotiations between the dprk and ask, especially focusing on the participation in the 0lympics, focusing on the participation in the olympics, is very important and positive. however it is also important to note that the dprk has made no gesture at all towards denuclearisation on the korean peninsula and a strictly limit discussions with us, their bilateral relations involving the winter 0lympics, relations involving the winter olympics, and there is no indication at all that as far as the nuclear weapons are concerned on the korean peninsula, there is any positive step forward. of course, the rok has insisted peaceful dialogue for the winter olympics will be helpful for the eventual effort at denuclearisation but dprk has taken a

can get out of the way finally and we can stop having the korean peninsula be an old cold war pawn and that they could finally have peace for all their people it's interesting you mention the u.s. being out that way because unlike in previous discussions the u.s. isn't going to be at the negotiating table lists do you see that effect in the process i mean is it actually say anything about the you know the south koreans view on the trump administration. well what it says are a few things first of all when they did direct negotiations back in two thousand in two thousand and five actually they actually went ahead and were able to at that time reach agreements and the u.s. was not at the table now in this scenario what you're looking at is a situation where the six party talks which was the only circumstance in which the u.s. was at the table those never really got going in a way that was highly effective and even when we set up the agreed framework under the clinton administration bill clinton's administration there was a situation in which promises were made for fuel and otherwise and a

which is to say ensuring the safety and stability of the korean peninsula. i appreciate that my colleagues came to her for this meeting which. is to show our solidarity against the dangerous and illegal actions of north korea has also enabled us to discuss ways of increasing the effectiveness of the international sanctions regime. to support a rules based international approach to the united states and specifically my colleague counterpart secretary rex tillerson for co-hosting this foreign ministerial on security and stability in the korean peninsula. for more than two decades the international community has advanced a range of initiatives to limit or dismantle north korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and related activities in response and in direct contravention of its international obligations north korea has engaged in a deliberate and systematic effort to develop and it has its capabilities nowhere else in the world do we see the proliferation of weapons and materials of mass destruction on the scale of north korea's program we cannot stand

and they're having them engage in a dialogue will be essential in restoring the peace on the korean peninsula at the end of the day. >> i guess, finally, what do you expect the mood to be at the olympics, the mood amongst south koreans and others when the north koreans come in, when they march under the unified flag? i ask, because there's a big uproar in your country already by uniting the hockey team, you know, some of the south korean hockey professionals say that's going to dilute your country's ability to be the best. >> well, there can be, once again, many voices, you know, free and open society like korea. but i would like to remind you what happened in the early 1970s between china and the united states. it was through the ping-pong games, through the chinese and the americans to lay the foundation for the normalization of the relationship. sports event could be a very useful opportunity for the two koreas to engage in a process of reconciliation down the road. >> well, that was the last word, and that was a very, very good last word. minister lynn somnang. >> thank you. >> thanks for

how much the united states has genuinely walked away from world leadership in areas like the korean peninsula is just the latest example where trump is been walking away from the world rather than working more with it and you mentioned earlier it's obviously important to discuss the at the olympics but it's even more important you said that talks carry on off to the olympics as well if that is the case if those negotiations do carry on do you think that could lead to an easing of tensions on the peninsula i mean what what could it lead to long i suppose is the question and. well that's really the main thing so if there are talks that happen if there's an agreement for talks after the olympics that take place that's where i would begin getting more optimistic rather than a kind of a short term one off. basically. sation the conflict for a couple weeks for the olympics that's where i think that there might be something longer term happening but if there is any progress that happens i think it's going to be something that's a result of many years indeed decades of work by a number of administrat

that of the military industrial complex in america fears that peace may be breaking out in the korean peninsula between the two koreans between the two koreas and of course south korea has limited sovereignty because u.s. troops thirty thousand of them are still there so we see an unprecedented break away from the south korean government trying to assert sovereignty and say to this to the northern people to the people their brothers and sisters in the north let's have peace let's have negotiations let's have a joint team that's alarming to trump into the military industrial complex but very welcomed by all the people in the world i'm just wondering what is the next move for north korea if you've got the u.s. saying look north korea you need to take a more sort of gentle approach to your relations with the rest of the world and they have this seemingly positive gesture by unifying for an olympic team with south korea and they're still getting this aggressive rhetoric what do do they. right the united states doesn't want north korea to be reaching out and speaking in a way that would build peace

the koreans like to claim they have 7000 years of history on the korean peninsula as a korean nation. that is not true, but they have a very long history as one united people. they have become very divergent but that has been a recent development in the last 50 years. they look at the very long past they have had together as proof that in the future we can reunified. how exactly would that happen? that remains to be seen. it is not clear how that would happen. the official plan is for a loose confederation between the north while they try to work out the sticky details of how you would reunify the state. practically, it is impossible as long as the kim regime is in power in the north, but that does not stop koreans from wishing that it would happen. >> to protect the partition, the united states has had troops there since the end of the conflict. from a troops are on the ground and how many are from the south? >> i believe there are 28 thousand troops on the korean peninsula right now spread and bases throughout korea. they are under a base rate concentration program right now. they w

we have established the peace in the korean peninsula. a ever again. i do not anticipate immediately unification. my aim to establish a proper peace first. you, fellow people, established the democracy. you are the source of the peace. i depended totally on your help last year. so i could insist on my policy. south korea, north korea into a korean relationship. i could insist on having communication. north korea and south korea stopped talking for a while but now we opened new windows. donald trump has supported this move. he has also agreed in postponing joint south korean military exercises. this is the starting point. we have got to have a successful peaceful winter 0lympics. furthermore, the nuclear issue of north korea should be discussed. this should allow us to have a new chapter for the new peace of south and north korea. in doing so, america, china, japan and all oui’ so, america, china, japan and all our other alliances and i hope they do so. the north korean nuclear issue and establishing peace in north and south korea will be m

to the north from sound too much together in the opening ceremony under the korean peninsula flying from a single north south female ice hockey team. so here we have upcoming a joint women's ice hockey team that will be playing in the olympic games competing under a unified korean flag this is this is a huge breakthrough we also have two hundred thirty north koreans who are actually coming to the olympics to cheer and observe the games so there are some big breakthroughs going on but trump does not think they are significant trump did not only criticize north korea he's also called out shyness saying that he praised their efforts but he wished that they would do more and he said that russia wasn't helping at all now russia was a signatory to the recent sanctions on north korea and they have stated over and over again that they have not at any point breached those sanctions that they signed on to now with all of this with his criticism not just of north korea but also of russia and of china donald trump seemed to be emphasizing that he believed that his approach and which the north korean

after months of rising tensions on the korean peninsula, the north and south are to hold a new militaryialogue and appear together at the winter olympics. within the past hour, the south korean president, moon jae—in, said denuclearising the korean peninsula was an aim that cannot be abandoned. bur he also said that he did not want the immediate reunification of north and south korea. translation: it is the fundamental pathway, we needed to pass, which is a total... cannot be compromised. and this should be the only way for us and this should be the only way for us to achieve full piece on the korean peninsulas. live now to the south korean capital, and our correspondent, sophie long. the president has been giving a speech. he is now taking questions from the press. what do you make of it all? i think what is interesting about what we have heard from president moonjae—in this morning if he has used the word denuclearisation quite a few times and has also talked about the united states and how they working together with united days and that is their ultimate goal and that there is no dis

don't become reality and after a year of high tensions on the korean peninsula and in japan and across the pacific including the threat of military action by the u.s. these talks are already being heralded as a breakthrough florent slowly al-jazeera seoul your state department has welcomed the meeting between north korea and south korea called the talks a good first step and hopes of willing to discussions on denuclearization than estabrook has more now from washington d.c. . well the state department says that anything that lessens tensions on the korean poland and insulate it sees as a positive but it also says it would like to see talks on denuclearization white house says that it's seeing it's hopeful that. in his desire for a border wallace part of immigration reforms the president says lawmakers need to find a bipartisan solution to protect thousands of young so-called dream immigrants he says any agreement must include funding for border with mexico complete how could his following events in washington d.c. . well certainly there has been repeated speculation about the president

the koreans like to claim they have 7000 years of history on the korean peninsula as a korean nation. that is simply not true, but they have a very, very long history as one united people. they have become very divergent but that has been a recent development in the last 50 years. they look at the very long past they have had together as proof that in the future we can reunified. we can reunify the race. how exactly would that happen? that very much remains to be seen. it is not clear how that would happen. the official plan is for a loose confederation between the north and the south while they try to work up a very sticky details of how you would reunify the state. practically, it is probably impossible as long as the kim regime is in power in the north, but that does not stop koreans from wishing that it would happen. >> to protect the partition, the united states has had troops there since the end of the conflict. how many troops are on the ground and how many are from the south? >> i believe there are 28,000 troops on the korean peninsula right now spread on bases throughout kore

feels the winter olympics could be a groundbreaking chance to de—escalate tension is on the korean peninsulat does happen, it is thought the two sides will go on to talk about other issues like in the korean issues, things like divided families, people who haven't seen family members for up to 70 years. but even if those to take place it is very unlikely the two sides will even touch on the fundamental issue of the denuclearisation of the korean peninsula during these talks, and forany korean peninsula during these talks, and for any lasting peace and stability, that is the issue, of course, which needs to be dealt with. kim jong—un was very clear, evenin with. kim jong—un was very clear, even in the speech, when he said he was open to dialogue with the south, that he wouldn't stop his nuclear programme. the international community and the united states have said that is entirely unacceptable. we will bring you more as the talks develop. we will get a bit more analysis later on tuesday. —— newsday. we will return to this later here in newsday. but first, let's take a look at some of the day'

i think these discussions can lead to peace foreigners see the korean peninsula as a dangerous place under constant threat of war i hope those concerns don't become reality is that. despite the hopes for improving ties north korea has made it clear it is not willing to discuss its nuclear weapons program and that program is the main cause of the tensions so it's unclear how there can be any real deescalation in the region. it is an important question does this have to do with more than just the olympics the talk about that tonight i'm joined here at the big table by on his most there he is with the graduate school of east asian studies at the university here in berlin and kirsten phenomena joins us. from washington gentlemen to both of you it's good to have you on the show let me start with you these talks of course the first one. in two years but we're talking about the olympics we're not talking about the nuclear weapons program so do they really do these talks mean anything oh yes i would say that's really a breakthrough i mean in particular measured against what has been happenin

north and south marched together in the opening ceremony under the korean peninsula flag from a single north south female ice hockey team. south and north korean officials met for a third time in the space of just a few days to discuss peace efforts meanwhile western allies of the nineteen fifties korean war have gathered in canada to separate talks on the current crisis with a seemingly different approach. the purser campaign will continue until north korea takes decisive steps to do nuclear i think. is to send out a very clear message that we want to intensify that pressure it is not the time to pressure or to revert career the surest path to peace is to keep threatening north korea into submission after a long and challenging meeting that's the best the value of a group could come up with the purpose of our meetings today is to improve the effectiveness of the maximum pressure campaign and combat north korea's attempts to evade sanctions the united states looks forward to hearing from our protest votes on how we can best do that more sanctions toughest sanctions though one might won

welcome back across the uk where all things are considered mind you discussing the korean peninsula. ok we left the first part of the program with michael talking about the possibility of a mistake and i think that's the that's one area here that is the what is the known unknowns if i could quote a famous former secretary of defense i think you work for him how michael but. yeah yeah yeah. charles. you know there's not a lot of discussion in the mainstream or hartley's of zero is the the russian chinese plan of freeze for freeze freeze in the program for freezing of the exercises and if we go back i think it was the penultimate round of sanctions against north korea it was televised i watched the whole thing i saw the western nations you know again the sanctimonious nonsense ok. but then the chinese in the in the russians put out a plan and it was actually quite lengthy it was quite detailed and it's still on the table and that is the way forward and that that table the u.s. can still sit if it so wishes go ahead charles. he has very interesting you mention this is the if you like th

this is the only way for us to achieve full peace in the korean peninsula.e was in favour of the talks. some believe that the north korean leader's sudden willingness to engage with its neighbour is motivated by the desire to drive a wedge between those allied against him, as the latest round of un sanctions imposed on his regime really start to bite. but moonjae—in was adamant today that he would not allow that to happen. translation: in terms of security and defence, south korea and the united states are the closest of allies. we also share the same view of the significance of the threat from north korea. so south korea and the united states have been working closely together against north korea's nuclear threat. moonjae—in vowed to make 2018 the turning point in inter—korean relations. he hopes the pyeongchang games could mark the beginning of a process that would create a life for people here free from concerns about war. but given the year started with the north korean and us leaders exchanging threats and boasts about whose nuclear button was biggest,

deescalate the situation to calm tensions and to eventually lead to denuclearization of the korean peninsula where clearly a lot of the world's key players are keeping a very close watch on this meeting going on as you as you said on the borders and there in this so-called peace village. take us back for a moment how how did the right cards get put in place for this meeting to actually occur in the first place well this was this was an initiative of the north korean leader who. who proposed these talks as the as a gift to the korean people something that they over the people as he said. i think we should be engaged in these talks in earnest. to give a new year's gift namely the results of the tour to the korean nations. as you mentioned earlier we hope to bring a precious gift to your people that matches the expectations of our people. obviously the two sides have vested interest in talks a successful the beginning to bite the well they've been biting for a long time but they're now crippling the north koreans and they obviously want to get rid of these sanctions or the united states has com

weeks and few months let's take a a look kind of an overview of what's been going on on the korean peninsula recently . now the administration in south korea actually jumped at the opportunity to have talks now unlike their predecessors the moon administration has always said that it's very open to a diplomatic solution and a diplomatic approach with north korea now the talks actually come in the aftermath of an announcement in a statement in kim jong un's new year's remarks in which she said in his remarks that he was open to having a dialogue with the south this is what we heard from the leader of north korea. one clue to the south really wants reconsideration in unity we will keep open the doors for talks contact and exchange to everyone including the south korean administration opposition poems these groups from various fields and quantities and individuals. now when it was announced that the talks were going to take place we heard first on twitter and then in comments in speeches to the press that we heard from donald trump and he says that he thinks that was his approach in dealing wit

>> i believe there are around 28,000 troops on the korean peninsula right now. spread in bases all through korea. are under a base for the concentration right now. base inl have a large seoul, this is important because previously they were stationed around the dmz. any invasion of the south by the north meant almost immediate shedding of american blood. that would guarantee an american entrance into the war. that would probably still happen but the dynamics of it have changed. one of the reasons they wanted to do that, was they wanted to narrow the american footprints in south korea. they wanted to concentrate them in one zone and get them out of the center of the city. seoul has grown so rapidly that the space is now in the very center. this is a minor irritant for the koreans. >> does the south korean government present -- respect the presence of u.s. troops? >> it certainly does. in a perfect world, the koreans would wish the u.s. was not there. they would wish that they could manage their own security affairs on their own. i think it is a widely held view th

at tension on the korean peninsula at this meeting, ostensibly about the olympics, became somethingan agreement and the blessing of the international olympic committee. the ioc has approved the request to have their delegations marching together as one. under the name korea. for the first time, the two career countries divided since 1950s fulfil the unified team, women's ice hockey. and the olympic committee has relaxed its strict qualification deadlines to allow 22 north korean athletes to compete. handshakes, smiles and public signatures, these are not political leaders but representatives of north and south korea's national olympic committees. still, some believe this could be a sign of much more harmony to come. the olympic spirit is about respect, dialogue and understanding. the olympic winter games jong chung dialogue and understanding. the olympic winter gamesjong chung 2018 are hopefully opening the door to a brighter future are hopefully opening the door to a brighterfuture on are hopefully opening the door to a brighter future on the korean peninsula. given the long divisi

we're going to go to a short break and after a short break we'll continue our discussion on the korean peninsula stay with r.t. . altie we have a great team we need to strengthen before the free float and you're better than a legend to keep it so it's at the back. in one thousand nine hundred two that must qualify for the european championships at the very last moment no one believed in us but we won and i'm hoping to bring some of that waving spirit to the r.c.t. . recently i've had a lot of practice so i can guarantee you that peter schmeichel will be on the best full since my last will call on that. thousand zero zero zero zero zero. left left left more or less ok stuff that's really good. everybody i'm steven both . hollywood guy suspects every proud american first of all i'm just george bush and honored to do so this is my buddy max famous financial guru just a little bit different. with all the drama happening in our country i'm rude have fun every day americans. and we start to bridge that gap this is the great american. welcome back to cross talk we're all things considered on people abo

the united states of america the big concern for china at the moment are the tensions on the korean peninsula and the possibility as we get into the new year of possibly those tensions increasing and leading to some sort of conflict this is a timely reminder that whatever happens china increasingly has military options that it can call upon if it has to change meaning is a professor at american studies at beijing foreign versity says the statement will play well with that investing chinese audience specially. i think the presidency is calling on the army to train and to intensify the joining and especially in terms of combat a combat ready in response to certain tensions around our neighbors for example in the korean peninsula and also in the south china sea and promise of a bit of attention in the east china sea and so this is a very very timely call for a very bad and is to protect the motherland to keep peace and stability in this very region the tension that's been heightened in this specially over the past few years when in the midst of a two power to power in north korea and also the in

concern here in china about how the use of naval forces to enforce these sanctions around the korean peninsula might play out leading to the possibility of some accidental encounter with north korean naval forces that might escalate very quickly also the possible confrontations between the ships of the u.s. navy and its allies and the chinese navy and chinese merchant vessels around the korean peninsula as far as china's position is concerned it is implementing fully the u.n. sanctions but here at places like dandong one of the most important links with north korea of course ninety percent of north korea's trade goes through china it is still very busy with the kinds of commodities and foods and goods that china is allowed to trade with north korea but we are seeing evidence as far as the chinese authorities are concerned of clamping down on some of those activities and businesses that provide north korea money such as north korean restaurants or companies that are trading in north korea but the suspicion is always that individuals and companies are simply changing their names or changing mana

escalating tensions on the korean peninsula but at the start of this year north korean leader kim jong un unexpectedly proposed dialogue with the south and. the focus of the discussions at the truce village of panmunjom will be on north korea's participation in the two thousand and eight winter olympics in south korea next month and on improving into korean ties the last time north korean athletes visited the south was for the asian games in two thousand and fourteen sporting events have been useful in providing diplomatic openings between the two koreas but ultimately led nowhere and some analysts are skeptical of north korea's true intentions this time. because of the effectiveness of the economic sanctions you know suddenly finds the value of south korea as an alternative source of financial relief and using the pension on the korean peninsula as punishment for its nuclear weapons testing north korea has been subject to increasingly tighten sanctions including one that effectively slashes its petrol imports by ninety percent but kim has vowed to continue with his country's nuclear p

all for more than two years and of course it follows this period of heightened tensions on the korean peninsula it also follows several more increasingly tense times because of north korean nuclear and missile tests but critics are pointing to the fact that it's it is just about the olympics that this doesn't look at the bigger picture of denuclearization on the korean peninsula and at a meeting of foreign ministers in canada the japanese foreign minister was warning his counterparts to not be naive about north korea's intent and the message there in canada was that sanctions must be stopped too and now we have the u.s. president donald trump telling reuters that china is helping when it comes to sanctions against north korea but suggesting that perhaps russia is not and just recently his secretary of state rex tillerson seemed to repeat that suggestion saying it is apparent to us that they russia are not implementing all the sanctions and there is some evidence they may be frustrating some of the sanctions so the united states wants to continue to push this campaign of maximum pressure against

we're going to go to a short break and after a short break we'll continue our discussion on the korean peninsula state with our team. welcome back across the uk where all things considered on people about to mind you discussing the korean peninsula. ok we left the first part of the program with michael talking about the possibility of a mistake and i think that's the that's one area here that is the what is the known unknowns if i could quote a famous former secretary of defense i think you work for him how michael but. yeah yeah yeah. charles. you know there's not a lot of discussion in the mainstream or hardly use of a zero is the the russian chinese plan of a freeze for freeze freezing the program for freezing of the exercises and if we go back i think it was the penultimate round of sanctions against north korea it was televised i watched the whole thing i saw the western nations the you know again the sanctimonious nonsense. but then the chinese in the russians put out a plan and it was actually quite lengthy it was quite detailed and and it's still on the table and that is the way forward

the regime envisions a unified korean peninsula under a north korean dictatorship. south koreans, wolf, are clearly nervous about pulling off a peaceful winter olympic. so a lot of veteran diplomats are telling us they're concerned the south koreans are going to give away too much. this has happened before. the south koreans president's cabinet was investigated and found to have paid about $500 million to the koreans just to go to that summit. that's not going to happy here. but a lot of korean watchers tonight concerned about the south koreans giving away to mean concessions to leader gym ku jung un. >>> coming up, oprah winfrey versus president trump in 2020. two say she's actively thinking about getting into the next presidential race. cancer challenges us. to find smarter solutions. to offer more precise and less invasive treatment options than before. like advanced genomic testing and immunotherapy. see how we're fighting to outsmart cancer at cancercenter.com/outsmart >>> happening now, breaking news. getting testimony. cnn has learned that the president's leg

fairly fine line he wanted to talk about the olympics and generally reducing tensions on the korean peninsula but he also asked that the world except north korea has nuclear state now south korean officials along with the united states have said those issues cannot be disconnected from each other and that any talks that don't address the broader issue of north korea's nuclear program are not useful ok now we should to south to join the north north in talks would america be at the table as a kind of silent partner. that also remains unclear there's been some mixed messages out of washington about their attitudes towards talking to north korea as some officials in the state department have signaled out willingness and there have been some reports of back channel overtures in past months however president donald trump has remained rather publicly skeptical of the usefulness of talking to north korea so that obviously remains a huge issue for the effectiveness of any kind of talks ok briefly if you could josh are we looking at the escalation. again it's not clear you know whether this will hit so

after the politicians tried and failed it's taken to figure skaters to break the ice on the korean peninsula that's all that makes up the modest north korean winter olympic team that will likely no participate in pyongyang the news went down well with south korea's major ally the u.s. with president donald trump saying he hoped it was a sign of things to come i would love to see them take it beyond the olympics we have a very good relationship with south korea i would love to see it go far beyond the olympics absolutely just probably time will get involved but i like the idea to dealing with the olympics that should be between those two countries trump statement echoed comments made on friday by north korea's main ally china the chinese will surely be delighted that their hopes of korean olympic cooperation are likely to be fulfilled we hope that all relevant parties on the korean peninsula issue will seize upon the opportunity of the winter olympics to meet each other halfway to the correct path of peacefully solving problems through dialogue and make realistic efforts to alleviate tensions

thank you for spending time with us we appreciate it and we want to shift our focus now to the korean peninsula where north and south korea have agreed to hold their first formal talks in more than two years the discussions scheduled for thursday for tuesday excuse me will pave the way for north korean athletes to attend the upcoming winter olympics in south korea on the announcement came hours after the u.s. agreed to delay joint military exercises with south korea until after the winter games the meeting is expected to take place on january ninth in the demilitarized zone it's the same venue of past talks and earlier i spoke to josh smith he is a senior correspondent with borders in seoul and asked if the north korean team's presence at the winter olympic games is likely to help defuse tensions on the korean peninsula. well many observers. say that it's important to remember that their participation in the games there won't likely solve any problems on its own. however many people even the most cynical observers now say that you know this may provide some kind of opening that could lead to mo

nuclear rising the korean peninsula we should only do this through talks and negotiations as difficult as it may seem eventually this is. well as long as all the stakeholders including north korea you feel certain that the their security can be guaranteed without nuclear weapons. and you missed the boat and i would like to talk about some. important thing which is digital economy. i'm sorry i would like to add a few words on this. the previous question was related to what you just said. when we talk to our u.s. partners so we also talk about that the new start treaty and they recently all of a sudden they said of course this is still covered by the treaty they said that they would like to modernize some of their aircraft and submarines in the silos. so they can no longer be used for nuclear weapons and this is covered by the treaty but the treaty also says that this can only be done if the other party which means to russia. can verify of this modernization and there if i that the. those silos those aircraft those submarines can be. repurposed and modernized back to be used with nuclear

and north korea relations ahead on the month's olympics korean peninsula. brian is calling from iowa. go ahead. you are on. caller: i called it earlier. i wanted to get on during the marijuana discussion. i would like to party with clinton from alaska. and john who call it from illinois, i grew up two blocks from the eisenhower expressway. host: all right, brian, we are talking about north korea now. i want to keep our conversation to that and remind our viewers that democrats can call (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . abraham, i will get you were thoughts on a piece in today's "washington post," which points out that president trump's aids are calling his button tweet part of a plan that comes to north korea. " presiden tweetsent trump's host: but trump administration official said there has been no shift in the president -- no shift, and that the president's language reinforces the government strategy of "maximum pressure" to address the rising threat from north korea. so this is part of a continued approach f

to the north and south to march together in the opening ceremony under the korean peninsula flag from a single north south female ice hockey team. so here we have upcoming a joint women's ice hockey team that will be playing in the olympic games competing under a unified korean flag this is this is a huge breakthrough we also have two hundred thirty north koreans who are actually coming to the olympics to cheer and observe the games so there are some big breakthroughs going on but trump does not think they're significant is rhetoric trump did not only criticize north korea he's also called out shyness saying that he praised their efforts but he wished that they would do more and he said that russia wasn't helping at all now russia was a signatory to the recent sanctions on north korea and they have stated over and over again that they have not at any point breached those sanctions that they signed on to now with all of this with his criticism not just of north korea but also of russia and of china donald trump seemed to be emphasizing that he believed that his approach and which the n

joining in the upcoming winter olympics does offer some hope to people on both sides of the korean peninsula. well go now to aid in foster carter he's an honorary senior research fellow in modern korea at leeds university he joins us now from exit or aden happy new year to you but the question now is it a new him john owen in his speech if sounded like a stick for donald trump but a carrot for south korea what he make of these statements yes indeed i'm kind of wondering what took him so all that needless to say this is not you know an outbreak of peace for its own sake or a a change of heart by kim jong un and he made very clear as you pointed out that the so the u.s. is still very it is very much the stick but of course it's very helpful to north korea to divide to try to divide the u.s. for its south korea ally his late father kim jong il was very good at that during the sunshine era when south korea wanted to make nice for the north sadly on condition they sort of bracketed off the nuclear issue which began to mentally at the end of that period obviously but washington even under differen