nearly 70 years after the korean war ended in a cease-fire, the u.s. and south korea appear close to declaring a formal end to the cold war conflict. now, south korea s foreign minister said washington and seoul have agreed on a draft declaration ending a war. north korea, meantime, recently dismissed such a declaration as premature because of hostile u.s. policy. but the u.s. state department counters and says that the u.s. has no hostile intentions towards north korea and is willing to meet with pyeongyang without preconditions. lebanon s people have had a difficult time in 2021 from a crumbling economy to shortages of basic necessities to still unanswered questions on 2020 s deadly port explosion. cnn s ben wedemen was witness to much of it, and he now breaks down the country s struggles this year.
they site these launches were not they cite these launches were not directed toward either countries. these tests are not entirely surprising given the north koreans increasing frustration with washington and seoul in the recent weeks over the lack of progress on the nuclear talks. you said the two leaders met last month and agreed to resume working level talks. nothing s happening. the north koreans seem to be getting impatient. they have done this kind of test in the past to voice their impatience and frustration. if that s indeed the case, we are probably not seeing the end of it given the increasing uncertainty on the future of these talks between the u.s. and north korea. steven, the president downplays it. these are short-range missiles, and a lot of theme have them. short-range missiles mean a lot more when you re within short range, right? south korea, japan, you mentioned that joint statement, are we hearing anything else from the other leaders in the
relationship with kim jong-un. plans are in the works for a possible second summit with the north korean leader. we re talking. it s very calm. he s calm. i m calm. reporter: trump is citing north korea s lack of recent missile tests as a positive sign, despite a months-long stalemate in denuclearization talks. north korean state media this week placing all the blame on u.s. demands, once again calling them gangster-like. president moon will try to salvage the situation, acting as mediator when he visits the u.s. next week. kim jong-un says he ll soon be the first north korean leader ever to visit seoul, a chance for more photo ops and more promises of a bright unified future. what happens next could clarify if washington and seoul are still on the same page when it comes to pyongyang or if the u.s. is beginning to look like a third wheel. kim jong-un, a reminder, still has all of the nuclear weapons today that he had yesterday and he ll likely have them for many weeks to come beca
but also the importance of them meeting face to face between the koreas with the u.s. excluded to some degree. exactly right. on one hand it is a positive development for north and south korea that they are moving forward with some of the commitments they made. they are trying to increase economic cooperation, the family reunions. the big issue is denuclearization of the korean peninsula and the other issue being the peace treaty to formally end the korean war. they would need the buy in of the united states and china. could there be a bilateral piece try treaty? and washington and seoul would certainly deny that. but if you look at the optics here, things have not again well
hancocks. paula, what is the latest there this morning? reporter: dave, we have more information now about exactly what kim jong-un was talking about at the summit on friday. the blue house says he will shutdown the nuclear test site in may. may starts tomorrow. that is a very tight fatimefram. they have two extra tunnels within that site. they are in good condition according to kim jong-un. he will shut it down. he will invite journalists to view it to make sure it is transparent. we had a quote from kim jong-un through the blue house that he is not the kind of person to launch a nuclear missile against the united states. clearly this is a different kim jong-un that we are seeing at the summit as just months earlier. that is the threat that north korea was leveling against washington and seoul and new york.