This photo belatedly released by the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Oct. 2, 2018, shows South Korean magician Choi Hyun-woo (L) performing with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during an inter-Korean summit dinner at the North’s state banquet hall in Pyongyang on Sept. 18. (Yonhap)
On the 80th anniversary of the Munich Agreement, may I say: It was a good thing that Neville Chamberlain had the good grace not to hoist a giant picture of Adolf Hitler on London's City Hall in 1938. https://t.co/4Lr9On1Y4K
Trump just said in his W Virginia speech that he “loves” Kim Jong Un, & his audience clapped. Seriously. WTH has happened to the GOP? It’s just unrecognizable. This is why I’m so resistant to T’s diplomacy w/ NK. He’s doing it for all the wrong reasons – flattery, admiration, /1
President Moon wants everyone to believe that the Kim regime really means it this time to denuclearize:
President Moon Jae-in speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York on Tuesday (local time). / Yonhap
South Korean President Moon Jae-in pushed back Tuesday against widespread skepticism about the sincerity of Kim Jong Un’s vows to give up his nuclear bombs, saying that the current round of diplomacy with North Korea is ”completely different” than the many failed deals that have frustrated past negotiators.
Moon, fresh off a dramatic summit in Pyongyang last week with Kim that saw more promises from the North Korean leader to dismantle his weapons programs, is at the U.N. General Assembly this week, meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders to explain and, to some extent, defend his efforts to bring peace to the famously hostile Korean Peninsula.
He told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York that it was ”only natural that we have plenty of suspicions regarding the true motivations” of Kim. It was, after all, only last year that a series of increasingly powerful North Korean weapons tests, including the nation’s sixth nuclear test explosion, and the tough reaction by Trump had many worrying about war. Some critics believe that tough sanctions and pressure, rather than engagement and concessions, stand a better chance of ridding the North of its nukes.
”It’s completely different this time around,” Moon said, speaking through an interpreter. What’s changed this time is that, unlike past efforts that collapsed when the countries tried to implement deals that had been made at the working level, this one has Trump and Kim making the decisions and then driving their lieutenants to follow through.
”This was a promise made in front of the whole world” by Trump and Kim, Moon said. ”For this reason, I believe the promise will be kept.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but if Kim Jong-un wants people to think he is serious about denuclearization he can start shipping out nuclear material from his country. The concessions they have made so far are all easily reversible that he wants sanctions dropped and a peace treaty signed in return for.
Shipping nuclear material out of the country cannot be reversed and worthy of bigger concessions from the US. Until the Kim regime starts doing that people are going to rightfully remain skeptical about his intentions. As I have long been saying, the Kim regime wants “pretend denuclearization” which many people in the academic class, political class, and US adversaries want as well.
Some valid points are raised in the below piece. Reminds me of the adage of the risks of sleeping with dogs. But Moon seems to be willing to tolerate a few fleas in his quest for a more sustainable peace and reduction in conflict. https://t.co/7OTj3ugTjf
It is pretty clear that Kim Jong-un is doing everything he can to influence the South Korean public that he can be trusted:
Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju (left) with South Korean president Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook (R) on Mount Paektu, where Kim attempted to make ‘finger hearts’ sign. Photograph: Kcna Via Kns/AFP/Getty Images
During a joint visit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the top of Mount Paekdu, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un posed for cameras with the hottest photo gesture in South Korea: a finger heart.
Kim made the gesture, which crosses the thumb and the index finger to make the shape of a heart, when he posed for a photo with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, against the backdrop of Cheonji or Heaven Lake on top of the mountain Thursday, the South’s presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said.
The gesture has been one of the most popular photo poses in South Korea in recent years — perhaps as popular as the conventional V gesture — as a lot of actors, actresses and singers, including boy band BTS, have used it.
After trying to figure out how to make the gesture, the North’s leader approached the spokesperson.
“How do you do this?” Kim was quoted as asking. “I can’t make it in the right shape.”
Kim managed to make the gesture and his wife, Ri, put her hands under Kim’s hand as if she’s upholding the heart, according to the spokesman [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but this is all a carefully choreographed narrative being constructed of Kim Jong-un that I would not be surprised if the Moon administration is helping to craft.
President Moon has returned to South Korea after a photo shoot with Kim Jong-un on North Korea’s highest mountain, Mt. Paekdu:
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (2nd from R) and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, (R) pose for a photo with their North Korean counterparts Kim Jong-il and Ri Sol-ju during their joint trip to Mount Paekdu in North Korea on Sept. 20, 2018. (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap
South Korean President Moon Jae-in returned home Thursday after a three-day trip to North Korea for his third summit with leader Kim Jong-un.
Moon arrived at Seoul Air Base at 5:36 p.m., about two hours after his flight left North Korea’s Samjiyon airport near Mount Paekdu.
His departure from the North came after a joint trip with Kim to Mount Paekdu that highlighted the success of their bilateral summit in Pyongyang. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but it is expected that President Moon will next turn his attention on President Trump to get him to drop sanctions in return for North Korea’s “Pretend Denuclearization“.
Remember that Kim Jong-un’s dad, Kim Jong-il once said that he would visit Seoul and never did:
North and South Korea agreed that the Korean Peninsula should turn into a “land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats,” Moon said following the conclusion of his summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Moon, Kim said he will visit the South’s capital Seoul “in the near future.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but but if Kim gets sanctions dropped, is flush with cash from the Moon administration, and achieve a confederation which brings forth unification on North Korean terms, of course he would be willing to visit Seoul.
The irony of Kim Jong-un visiting Seoul is that the guy responsible for the murder of dozens of South Koreans and horrific human rights abuses will likely be treated as a hero by the Moon administration while the two former ROK Presidents who stood up to Kim Jong-un, Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak rot prison.
President Moon received a lavish welcome in Pyongyang:
President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un react to citizens lining the roads to Pyongyang, Tuesday, on their way to the Baekhwawon State Guest House from Sunan International Airport. Yonhap
President Moon Jae-in began talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to seek momentum in denuclearization, following his arrival in Pyongyang for a three day summit, Tuesday.
Their first talks of the third summit took place at the headquarters of the Workers’ Party of North Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang for 90 minutes starting at 3:30 p.m.
Seoul’s spy chief Suh Hoon and National Security Office (NSO) head Chung Eui-yong attended, while the North was represented by Kim Yong-chol, a senior ruling party official and the first lady Kim Yo-jong, according to presidential secretary Yoon Young-chan in a media briefing at a main press center set up in Dongdaemun, Seoul.
This is the first time a South Korean president has been to the WPK headquarters, where Kim’s office is located. President Moon is also the first head of state to hold a summit with Kim in Pyongyang since the latter took power.
“From that perspective, we believe this is great hospitality that has never been seen before, as Kim flew to China and Singapore for summits with other leaders,” Yoon said.
“The leaders of the two Koreas undertook a comprehensive review of key pending issues that need to be addressed properly. The two also searched for specific ways to advance various inter-Korean projects. However, South Korea is committed to abiding by all U.N. Security Council sanctions, and the talks for greater economic cooperation with the North were done in accordance with these,” Yoon said. [Korea Times]
So how is getting Kim Jong-un to denuclearize going? About as we all expected:
While getting a specific timeline and details for North Korea’s denuclearization is at the top of President Moon’s agenda for the summit, Yoon said it was highly unlikely the two would agree on a detailed timeframe towards a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
“We can figure it out, but we have to wait,” he said.
When it comes to denuclearization it is always we have to wait, but when it comes to giving the Kim regime concessions they always have to happen now. Here is what else President Moon had to say:
Before his departure for Pyongyang, President Moon said he was seeking “permanent peace,” which is irreversible and can be sustained regardless of external factors.
