John Bolton’s Resignation Expected to Lead to Expedited Talks with North Korea
The Kim regime was probably pleased to see the news that John Bolton resigned as the U.S. National Security advisor:
Following the exit of hawkish National Security Adviser John Bolton from President Donald Trump’s cabinet after he was unceremoniously fired, Washington is now expected to soften its hardline approach toward North Korea when both sides resume their talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, experts said Wednesday.
The ouster of Bolton is seen as a message from Trump that he badly wants to revive the stalled talks since the failure of the Hanoi summit earlier this year. The U.S. president is widely seen as trying to generate a good foreign affairs policy outcome in his bid for re-election next year. Bolton’s departure came as Pyongyang showed its willingness to resume working-level nuclear talks with the U.S. later this month.
“North Korea will apparently welcome Trump’s ouster of Bolton, as the hawkish figure has long been seen as a thorn in its side from the North’s viewpoint,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of international relations at Handong Global University. “This is a positive sign in terms of resuming the nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang.”
But the expert pointed out that Bolton’s absence could have a negative impact on Washington’s ultimate long-term goal of achieving complete denuclearization of the North.
“Bolton was well aware of what denuclearization is and has always stuck to principles without being swayed by political interests,” Park said. Bolton was the most appropriate figure who could deliver critical and realistic messages to Trump, so there are now concerns on whether the U.S. president will be able to fill the position with someone who is as well-versed in denuclearization, the professor said.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans are never going to fully denuclearize. The best that can be expected from them would be some kind of “pretend denuclearization” deal. I think President Trump realizes that and probably wants to cut some kind of deal prior to the U.S. Presidential campaign season next year.
