US may demand N. Korea scrap chemical, biological weapons

April 23, 2018

Tokyo- US President Donald Trump may demand North Korea's early scrapping of its chemical and biological weapons, on top of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, during his envisaged talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, US Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty has suggested.

In an interview with Jiji Press on Saturday, Hagerty said that the discussions Trump had with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week at the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, "centered around our continued desire to have complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the peninsula." The ambassador was present in the latest Abe-Trump talks as a member of the US delegation.

"We had extensive talks about chemical and biological weapons as well. All types of weapons of mass destruction were discussed," Hagerty said, adding that the timing for scrapping such weapons was also discussed. "I felt the sense of immediacy in the conversation."

According to the South Korean government, North Korea is believed to possess up to some 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, including highly toxic nerve gases VX and sarin.

The US government put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism after determining that the reclusive state used VX gas to assassinate Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of the North Korean leader, in Malaysia in February last year.

Noting that Abe and Trump have "a clear sense of history," Hagerty said, "We have no desire to see history repeated again in terms of our negotiations with North Korea."

"The president is very clear that this is going to be about results. I think it's going to be about verifiable results," the ambassador said.

Elsewhere in the interview, Hagerty touched on his recent meeting at his residence with the families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago, saying that he had been able to listen to their "feelings, sentiments and perspectives."

In Mar-a-Lago, Trump promised Abe that he will bring up the issue of Japanese abductees if he meets with the North Korean leader in May or early June.

The president "understands that this is a very serious matter for the families and also for the people of Japan," Hagerty said. "He wants to do his very best to try to secure their return."

Regarding North Korea's surprise decision to stop nuclear testing and test-firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the ambassador said this is further evidence that the extensive pressure campaign of the international community "is having results."

"It's rational and very good news for the people of North Korea," he added. Jiji Press