A protester holds a banner that says, “Trump jeopardizes peace on the Korean Peninsula,” during a rally in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on May 25, 2018, to criticize the U.S. government and call for a summit with North Korea as scheduled. On May 24, U.S. President Donald Trump called off his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un scheduled for June 12, citing the North’s “tremendous anger and open hostility.” (Yonhap)
This is a bit of a slap in the face of Moon Jae-in that the Trump administration did not trust telling him of the upcoming summit cancellation:
Washington did not inform Seoul of its decision to call off its planned summit with North Korea until it was reported by media.
A high-ranking official of South Korea’s presidential office said the U.S. government notified Seoul of its move almost at the same time when it was announced to the public.
The White House was known to have first informed South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Cho Yoon-je, who then delivered the news to the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae.
According to American media outlets, the U.S. government began discussing the possibility of canceling the U.S.-North Korea summit Wednesday night local time.
The South Korean official said there were no advance discussions on the matter between Seoul and Washington. [KBS World News]
President Trump has completely flipped the script on the Kim regime. The North Koreans are used to being the ones canceling talks and making the other parties make concessions to get them to come back:
President Donald Trump called off his summit with Kim Jong-un on Thursday after North Korea hurled insults at Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump said it would be ‘inappropriate’ to hold talks at this time after the Kim regime again tested the limits of his patience.
‘You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never be used,’ he said in a letter to Kim that the White House distributed.
North Korea‘s vice foreign minister had slammed Pence for his ‘unbridled and impudent remarks that North Korea might end like Libya.’
Choe Son Hui also said the future of the summit between Pyongyang and Washington is ‘entirely’ up to the United States, as she condemned an interview Pence gave to Fox News.
Trump said in his letter to Kim that as a result of the ‘tremendous anger and open hostility’ demonstrated by North Korea in the latest back and forth, he was pulling out of the June 12 meeting to discuss Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
‘I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,’ Trump said hours after North Korea publicly destroyed much of its Punggye-ri nuclear test site. ‘Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place.’
The U.S. president went on to say that he hopes to meet Kim one day and that the good dialogue that was building up between the two nations prior to the recent provocations remains promising.
Trump’s letter to Kim followed a string of threats from the North to call off the summit that had been brokered to discuss a commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The president told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that he’d know whether he was moving forward with the Singapore summit ‘next week.’ That was before North Korea’s latest volley, which included the assault on Pence.
‘We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us,’ said Choe Son Hui, according to a report by North Korea’s central news agency on Thursday.
She added: ‘I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the US vice-president. [Daily Mail]
You can read more at the link, but here is the letter that President Trump sent to Kim Jong-un:
I look at this as not being a cancellation of the talks, but instead part of the ongoing negotiations. The Trump administration has put North Korea in its place by reminding them who they are and who they are dealing with; thus the description in the difference in nuclear capabilities in the letter. I also think the message being sent is that the United States will not be pushed around by the North Koreans and they should be respectful towards the Trump administration and thankful for the opportunity to meet with the US President. This is especially true considering President Trump has made very respectful remarks towards Kim Jong-un and even the cancellation letter is extremely polite towards Kim Jong-un.
We are about to see how serious the Kim regime is about holding these talks and reaching a denuclearization deal because the ball is now officially in their court. President Trump’s letter leaves it very open for a future meeting if the Kim regime changes its tone. If they apologize for the remarks towards Vice President Pence that is a signal that they really do want a deal. However, if they begin another launch cycle or execute a provocation of some kind then that is a sign they were never serious about these talks in the first place.
However, it was good to see that for once the United States got something out of North Korea, the release of the three American detainees for little to nothing in return. It is usually the other way around where the US and South Korea makes concessions to North Korea for little to nothing in return. Once again President Trump has flipped the script on the Kim regime. It will be interesting to see how the North Koreans respond.
It looks like President Trump is making it very clear that there will be no long drawn out denuclearization process with North Korea like we have seen with past failed deals:
President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump talk during their summit at the White House, Washington, D.C., Wednesday. / Yonhap
U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned the possibility of delaying his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a meeting with President Moon Jae-in at the White House, Wednesday.
Trump said “all-in-one” denuclearization would be better than an incremental process with incentives, and it should be done over a very short period of time.
“There are certain conditions that we want. And I think we’ll get those conditions. And if we don’t, we won’t have the meeting,” Trump said. “Frankly, there’s a chance to be a great, great meeting for North Korea and a great meeting for the world. If it doesn’t happen, maybe it will happen later.”
He added, “It may not work out for June 12.”
But the U.S. president assured Kim of the safety of his regime, adding South Korea, China and Japan would invest in the North to help make the country “great” if it follows through on denuclearization. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but I agree with President Trump that this should be an all or nothing deal for Kim Jong-un. The North Koreans this time should not receive massive amounts of aid and other incentives for little to nothing in return. Instead they should demonstrate irreversible intent to denuclearize which the dog and pony show for the closure of the nuclear test site is not. For example if nuclear material begins to get shipped out of the country and their nuclear plant is dismantled that is evidence of irreversible intent to denuclearize.
It appears that President Trump is determined to end the North Korean issue one way or another in his first term as US President according to Senator Lindsey Graham:
This EPA file photo shows U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. (Yonhap)
U.S. President Donald Trump wants to end the North Korean nuclear crisis during his current term, and will likely use military means if diplomacy fails, an American senator said Sunday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made the remark on Fox News, citing his conversation with the president three days earlier.
“He says he’s going to end this conflict within his first term, that every other president has been played,” Graham said. Trump’s term ends in early 2021.
“President Trump told me three days ago that he wants to end this in a win-win way,” the senator continued. “He thinks that’s possible, but if they pull out, they play him, that we’re going to end North Korea’s threat to the American homeland in his first term and I’ll let you surmise as to what that might look like.” [Yonhap]
President Moon Jae-in (3rd from L) walks to an airplane at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on May 21, 2018, to depart to Washington D.C. for a summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump the following day. The summit will focus on ways to denuclearize North Korea ahead of a summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12. (Yonhap)
It looks like President Moon will be able to personally make his case to President Trump to get on the peace train and pretend trust that the Kim regime is going to denuclearize:
Chung Eui-yong, left, Blue House national security adviser, shakes hands with John Bolton, his U.S. counterpart, on Friday at the White House. [YONHAP]President Moon Jae-in will meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on May 22 to discuss the upcoming North Korea-U.S. summit, the Blue House said on Saturday. The date and location of the high-stakes meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Trump have yet to be announced.
Moon is expected to share the detailed outcome of his summit with Kim last month and convey the North Korean leader’s intentions to Trump. The presidential office said in a statement that the two leaders would “have an in-depth discussion over ways to make sure the North-U.S. summit will be successful on the back of achievements forged in the April 27 summit.”
On the upcoming Moon-Trump meeting, the White House said the two “will continue their close coordination on developments regarding the Korean Peninsula following the April 27 inter-Korean summit,” and discuss “Trump’s upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
John Kelly strongly — and successfully — dissuaded Trump in February from ordering the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula, @NBCNews reports. This fits with accounts I heard about Trump throwing papers in the Oval, yelling about S.Koreahttps://t.co/JYqiqQHaqjpic.twitter.com/QBo6xHWu5K
To me it appears that President Moon Jae-in is attempting to play to President Trump’s ego:
South Korea’s president said Monday that his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
Moon Jae-in made the comments during a Cabinet meeting three days after his momentous summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. The only thing we need is peace,” he said in remarks confirmed by the presidential office.
Trump is planning to hold his own summit with Kim in coming weeks, although the venue and date have not been announced. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but if the North Koreans do not commit to real denuclearization President Trump could sink the entire facade that is going on right now. President Moon may be hoping that the possibility of winning a Nobel Peace Prize just like Trump’s rival Barack Obama did, may be enough to get him to play along with the current facade as well. Time will tell and we will all just have to wait and see what happens.
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