North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump held two summit meetings. The first one was in Singapore in June 2018. It was exploratory in nature. There were expectations of a positive outcome to resolve the issue of denuclearization. The second summit was in Hanoi in February 2019. However, it turned out to be a non-starter and they could not arrive at any agreement. Later, Trump took the initiative to meet Kim in his home ground in June 2019. It was at the demilitarized zone DMZ. Reports indicate that, at that meeting, they agreed to restart talks, which could happen this week.

That would mean restarting nuclear negotiations and North’s latest missile launch could be a sort of message to the United States.

Sky News says North Korea has expressed willingness to offer partial denuclearization provided the US agrees to lift sanctions and provide security guarantees. That has been the point of dispute between the two sides. While Trump wants to assign priority to denuclearization, Kim harps on lifting of sanctions because that is having an adverse effect on his country’s economy. Obviously, there is a clash of interests and the US and North Korea must agree for a compromise of sorts to arrive at a settlement.

Pyongyang shows off its new weapon

Officials in South Korea monitor the activities of its neighbor on a regular basis and they have said that the latest launch of the hermit kingdom is a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

Experts feel that if the secretive state did launch the projectile from a submarine, it would mean it had acquired improved military capabilities. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicated that the ballistic missile launched by the North broke up in two parts. One part landed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) but there were no reports of any damage.

Sky News goes on to add that the tentative date for the restart of nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang could be in this week. The two sides will meet on Friday before proceeding to the working-level talks on Saturday.

It seems North Korea could offer partial denuclearization in exchange for an ease of sanctions and providing security guarantees. Incidentally, North Korea has praised President Donald Trump for suggesting a new approach to solve the problem. He has dropped hints that “the US may pursue an unspecified "new method" in the negotiations.”

Latest missile launch was the 11th this year

According to the BBC, Pyongyang announced possibilities of restarting talks with the US on denuclearization and followed it up by launching a ballistic missile from a submarine. North Korea was already working on the development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles technology. Officials of the South said the missile flew about 280 miles and attained an altitude of 565 miles before landing in the Sea of Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described it as "a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions which ban North Korea from the use of ballistic missile technology."
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