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Amid talk of a potential Pyongyang visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) printed a piece claiming Pyongyang’s so-called “two-track approach” of economic and nuclear weapon development could be revived, describing improved relations with the US and sanctions as “incompatible with each other.”

The message was seen as part of a bid to apply peripheral pressure on the US to change its stance on sanctions ahead of a high-level meeting reportedly set to take place between the two sides in New York on Nov. 7-8.

In the KCNA piece published on the afternoon of Nov. 2, North Korean Foreign Ministry’s Institute for American Studies Director Kwon Jong-gun was reported as issuing a personal commentary arguing that “the ‘two-track’ approach could be revived with addition of one more thing to the track of all-out concentration on economic development adopted by our state in April, and this change in course may be seriously re-examined.”

At the same time, the suggestion was contingent on the US “behaving in an arrogant way without listening properly to our repeated demands or showing any kind of change in attitude.”

This marks the first reference to “re-examining” the two-track approach in any remarks by a high-ranking North Korean official or major news outlet since the decision to put an end to the approach and focus North Korea’s full energies on economic construction at an Apr. 20 plenary session of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). It’s a message that bears noting – since the same argument taken to its extreme would equate the two-track approach with leader Kim Jong-un pulling out of efforts toward “complete denuclearization” as openly pledged to South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump.

As if to suggest his awareness of these severe ramifications, Kwon based his argument for re-examining the two-track approach as the “voice of the public” insisting that “we are the only ones changing, while our surrounding environment has not changed at all.” His message was that with disappointment in the US’ attitude running so high among the North Korean “public” – as opposed to Kim Jong-un and other members of the party, administration, and military – it was “now time for the US to respond in kind.”

“It’s important for Kim Jong-un to work on persuading people internally with regard to denuclearization, but he will have a lot to think about with the US’ intransigence on the sanctions issue,” said a source familiar with the situation, adding that the KCNA piece “expressed those concerns in somewhat coarse terms ahead of the high-level North Korea-US talks.”

On Nov. 1, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper quoted remarks made by Kim Jong-un during a visit to the construction site for the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourism area.

“Hostile forces are foolishly rampaging with dastardly sanction machinations to block improvements and development in our people’s welfare and force us to change and submit,” he was quoted as saying at the time.

Under current circumstances, the North Korean side may push hard on the sanctions issue at the high-level talks. In addition to the US response, the question of what “item” North Korea presents to the US in its call for loosening sanctions is another important factor.

“These talks are negotiations to get things moving forward,” a former senior South Korean official said.

“In any event, the North is also aware of the need for compromise,” the former official added.

In that sense, it’s worth nothing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks on Nov. 1 stressing the paramount importance of verification.

“It feels like a step forward that Secretary Pompeo placed the focus on ‘verification’ rather than ‘complete denuclearization,’” said a senior official in the foreign affairs and national security area – suggesting a perhaps optimistic hope that verification of the Yongbyon nuclear facility could serve as a medium for the two sides to reach an agreement.

According to multiple diplomatic sources, the current schedule for the high-level North Korea-US talks includes a dinner organized by Pompeo in New York on Nov. 7 and a main meeting on Nov. 8. Based on Pompeo’s remarks about having a conversation with “the number two person,” WPK Central Committee Vice Director Kim Yong-chol has been mentioned as the most likely person to attend the talks on the North Korean side.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer, and Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]