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Thursday, March 28, 2024

USDJPY Jumps And Dumps After Conflicting Reports Over North Korean Willingness To Negotiate

Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.

Shortly after 1pm, the USDJPY jumped and gold slumped following an Interfax report that US and North Korean diplomats may meet in Moscow this week, potentially signaling an easing of tensions and the beginning of the end of the months-long standoff between Pyongyang and the US. Specifically, Interfax reported that the US representative for North Korea Joseph Yun and North Korean Foreign Ministry’s head of North American department Choe Son Hui might meet at a non-proliferation conference in Moscow this week.

Until that point, the USD had been trading around 111.75 just shy of the 200-DMA at 111.79 amid muted trading, at which point it popped to 112.00.

The euphoria surrounding a diplomatic solution did not last long, however, and moments later CNN denied the Interfax report, reporting that a North Korean official reaffirmed Pyongyang’s commitment to developing a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching “all the way to the East coast of the mainland US,” on Monday, something it has stated previously, and told CNN that the rogue nation is currently not interested in diplomacy with the US until it achieves that goal.

North Korea is not ruling out diplomacy, but “before we can engage in diplomacy with the Trump administration, we want to send a clear message that the DPRK has a reliable defensive and offensive capability to counter any aggression from the United States,” the official said quoted by CNN

The comments offer a sobering challenge to the US and the Trump administration which has offered mixed messages regarding diplomatic efforts with North Korea.

The comments also offered a sharp reversal to traders who had bought USDJPY and sold fold on the news.

Not helping the de-escalation narrative was a follow up report from Interfax which cited a State Duma deputy, who confirmed what Reuters said over the weekend, that the joint U.S.-South Korean exercises off the North Korean coast could provoke Pyongyang into new missile launches.

The flurry of conflicting news comes as the US and South Korea are bracing for another North Korean nuclear or missile test. North Korea’s army has reportedly been observed moving missile launchers into position in recent days. It’s reported that US and South Korea joint military exercises involving an American aircraft carrier and several nuclear submarines could provoke North Korea’s next test in the coming days.

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