South Korea’s state-funded think tank contends that North Korea has indicated a possible change in its demand in denuclearization negotiations with the United States. 

The Institute for National Security Strategy under the National Intelligence Service(NIS) revealed at a press conference Monday its analysis of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s parliamentary speech last week. 

Choi Yong-hwan, a senior analyst at the institute, took note of Kim’s remarks that both Pyongyang and Washington need to put aside their unilateral demands and find a constructive solution that works for both their interests.

Choi speculated that the North may be veering away from its demand for the lifting of sanctions in return for step-by-step denuclearization. 

The institution’s vice head, Lee Ki-dong, focused on Kim’s reference to methodologies that can be shared between the North and the U.S., calling it suggestive of the importance of working-level negotiations between the two sides. 

He said the North is attributing the failure of its second summit with the U.S. to insufficient working-level talks and expressing its will to come up with concrete methodology on denuclearization before holding another summit with the U.S.