PARIS, October 10. /TASS/. The North Korean nuclear problem could be solved by signing a legally binding agreement similar to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed with Iran, but adjusted to particularities of North Korea, retired Colonel-General Viktor Yesin told TASS on the sidelines of the 10th conference of the International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe.
"At the first stage, an interim decision could be taken, the essence being that Pyongyang suspends its nuclear and missile programs for a certain period of time, let us say for 10 years, in exchange for guarantees of security and a substantial easing of the sanctions imposed against the DPRK," said Viktor Yesin, the former chief of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces General Staff.
"A legally binding agreement, similar to the JCPOA on the Iranian nuclear problem but taking into account the specific characteristics of the North Korean issue" will have to be signed for this, he went on. The general stressed that this could be possible only if the US stayed within the Iranian deal.
"And only once Pyongyang has made sure within these ten years that the achieved agreements are beneficial for the country, and above all the guarantees of the DPRK’s security are in place and there is no threat to the regime, an opportunity will appear to get back to the problem of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," the military expert said.
Iran and the P5+1 group of international mediators (Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States, France and Germany) signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program in July 2015 in Vienna. Under the deal, Iran embarks on limiting its nuclear activities and allows transparent international control of its nuclear program. In exchange, sanctions by the UN, the US and the European Union are to be gradually removed from Iran.
The Washington Post earlier reported that Trump is expected to shortly announce how the US will be implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear program in the future. According to the newspaper, Trump actually plans to abandon the Iran deal in its current form, since it is "not in the national interest of the United States." The paper noted that the move "could eventually result in the resumption of US sanctions against Iran."
Tensions persist on the Korean peninsula as Pyongyang continues to actively develop its national nuclear program, while military drills by the US and South Korea add fuel to the fire. In July, North Korea twice test fired ballistic missiles. On August 29 and on September 15, it carried out two more launches with missiles flying over Japan. On September 3, Pyongyang announced a successful test of a hydrogen bomb.
Late last month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington was looking into resuming consultations with North Korea to settle the crisis. He noted that North Korea and the US government have open lines of communication.
The next day, Trump wrote on his Twitter page that Tillerson "is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man" (nickname for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un).