INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
US special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun revealed the pledge in a
Stanford University speech
North Korea has pledged to destroy all its nuclear material enrichment facilities, according to
the US special envoy for the country, Stephen Biegun.He said the promise had been made to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when he visited
North Korea in October.But Mr Biegun said North Korea must provide a complete list of its nuclear assets before any deal can be reached
President Donald Trump had earlier claimed "tremendous progress" in talks between the countries
Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, the president said he would soon announce the date and location of a planned second summit with
North Korea's Kim Jong-un.The pair met in Singapore last year, the first meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader,
and signed an optimistic but vague declaration of their commitment to denuclearisation
Since then little progress has been made
North Korea has always said its nuclear programme is essential to its survival and that it will never unilaterally give it up unless it no
longer faces a nuclear threat from the US.In his speech at Stanford University in California, Mr Biegun said President Trump was "ready to
end this war"."We're not going to invade North Korea
We are not seeking to topple the regime," said Mr Biegun, who stepped into the role five months ago
Image copyrightKCNAImage caption
North Korea carried out a series of long-range missile tests in 2017
He
said Kim Jong-un had committed, in his talks with Mr Pompeo, to "the dismantlement and destruction" of all its plutonium and uranium
facilities, which provide the material for nuclear weapons
But he reiterated that the US would not lift sanctions until denuclearisation was complete, demanding "a complete understanding of the full
extent of the North Korean WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and missile programmes through a comprehensive declaration".North Korea has
long refused to give a full account of its nuclear capacity, and the means by which any surrendering or dismantling of nuclear arms will be
verified has always been a sticking point in negotiations
Mr Biegun said the US position remained that it would not lift sanctions "until denuclearisation is complete", but indicated it could
provide assistance in other ways, saying: "We did not say we will not do anything until you do everything."He also said there had been no
discussion with North Korea on whether the 28,500 US military personnel stationed in South Korea could be withdrawn as a concessional
move.Mr Biegun, who is due to meet his North Korean counterpart in South Korea on 3 February, said the US had "contingencies" in place if
the diplomatic process collapsed.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Kim Jong-un, left, has met South Korea's
Moon Jae-in several times
Despite positive noises from the White House, there are still sceptics on the Korean peninsula and
in the US.US intelligence chiefs presented the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment report to the US Senate earlier this week, which assessed
that North Korea is "unlikely to give up" its weapons programme
The report also said Iran was not developing nuclear weapons, as the Trump administration has said, prompting a tweet from the president
telling the intelligence heads to "go back to school".A further tweet on Thursday claimed the Senate report was "mischaracterised by the
