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.
If there is going to be a second Trump-Kim summit I would think there is going to be a major announcement from the summit instead of the generalities that came out of the first summit:
U.S. envoy to North Korea Stephen Begun meets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018. COURTESY OF THE BLUE HOUSE
South Korea’s president called on the United States and North Korea to make “bold decisions” to put nuclear negotiations back on track as the White House announced planning is underway for a second summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.
President Moon Jae-in, who plans to travel to Pyongyang next week for his own meeting with Kim, said he has no choice but to play mediator to promote dialogue between the longtime adversaries.
Talks aimed at persuading the North to give up nuclear weapons have stalled since Trump and Kim vowed to work toward the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” at their June 12 summit in Singapore.
But Trump welcomed a North Korean military parade over the weekend that left out the usual long-range missiles and focused on peace and economic development in what was seen as a gesture toward rekindling talks with Washington.
Moon said Tuesday that the North must dismantle its nuclear weapons programs and the U.S. must take a corresponding step.
“If we would like to move to a higher level … bold ideas and decisions by the leaders of North Korea and the United States are necessary,” he said during a Cabinet meeting, according to a transcript from his office. “In the process, both countries must end the deep-rooted, mutual distrust stemming from 70 years of hostile relations.” [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but when President Moon talks about “bold decisions” what he means is that President Trump needs to sign up for the “pretend denuclearization” plan. Does anyone really expect Kim Jong-un is going to show up at a second summit and hand over his nukes to President Trump?
Kim Jong-un and President Trump are continuing their pen pal relationship:
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he expects to receive a “positive letter” from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said that he knows a personal letter from Kim is going to be delivered to him, adding that it was handed over at the border the day before.
This border Trump refers to is suspected to be the inter-Korean border, but a detailed route of the letter’s delivery was not provided.
Trump said the letter will likely be delivered to him by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and added that “It’s an elegant way, the way it used to be many years ago before we had all of the new contraptions that we all use.”
Trump also said he thinks it’s going to be a positive letter. [KBS World Radio]
I have to wonder what flattery and empty denuclearization promise will be in the letter that Kim is going to try and use to sway President Trump to make a major concession? My guess would be the major concession Kim will ask for is a treaty to end the Korean War.
President Moon Jae-in’s special envoy and National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, left, whispers to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae [Korea Times]
