Obama Says Iran Type Deal Also Available to North Korea

If N. Koreans asked to talk, ‘We’ll be right there at the table’

"Even though you didn't ask me the question, I'm going to horn in on the question you asked President Park, because we've actually discussed Iran and what it could teach us about the situation in North Korea. These are both countries that have long history of antagonism toward the United States. 

But we were prepared to have a serious conversation with the Iranians once they showed they were serious about the possibility of giving up the pursuit of nuclear weapons. I suspect President Park agrees with me here that at the point where Pyongyang says we're interested in seeing relief from sanctions and improved relations, and we're prepared to have a serious conversation about denuclearization. I think it's fair to say we are going to be right here at the table.

Now, whether even if they made that gesture they would then be willing to subject themselves to kind of rigorous verification regimes that we've set up with Iran, particularly given their past violations of agreements. That's a separate question but we haven't even gotten to that point yet as there has been no indication on the art of North Korea as there was with the Iranians that they could foresee a future in which they did not possess or were not pursuing nuclear weapons."

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