While he had previously demanded that Kim Jong-un completely abandon the weapon program without any compromise from the United States, he has now proposed a progressive dismissal of the program. This change to a more flexible request has come after last week’s declaration that North Korea would not surrender its weapons without a reciprocal response by the U.S., followed by threats of canceling the upcoming summit between the two leaders, scheduled to take place a month from now in Singapore.
This change is somewhat surprising since Trump has kept his position on how to proceed with North Korea quite adamant for months now. Yet, it seems that he is willing to challenge his previous ideals in order to maintain the event that has given him so much attention recently. Therefore, the entire Trump administration finds itself struggling to find a strategy that would allow them to negotiate, while still seeming decisive.
Trump stated that the scale and magnitude of North Korea’s nuclear project would make it difficult for them to dismantle it in a single action. He delivered his comments while he received South Korea’s president Moon Jae-in in the Oval Office. He proceeded to state his belief that the upcoming meeting could end up being quite beneficial for Mr. Kim, for his country’s well-being, prosperity and safety. However, he did highlight the probability of the meeting not happening by the scheduled date, since there are “certain conditions we want to happen”. He declared that “if we don’t [get those conditions], we won’t have the meeting”. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that, while he does express optimism regarding the summit, it is very likely that more changes and events will occur before the meeting can take place.
Although president Trump has shown his enthusiasm for the meeting on several occasions, some members of the White House do not share that feeling. The uncertainty surrounding the event – what will happen, whether it will happen at all – has brought confusion to the administration, according to one official. Trump, however, has mentioned his suspicion that North Korea has hardened its relationship with the U.S. after a meeting between Kim Jong-un and China’s president, Xi Jinping. This latest conflict has also raised tension for South Korea’s leader, who has been considered as a mid-party between Trump and Kim and someone who has heavily influenced Trump’s decisions to start talks with North Korea.
After his declarations, Trump turned to Mr. Moon and asked him whether he believed that the Chinese leader was influencing Kim Jong-un, to which Moon deflected the question, yet ultimately expressed optimism towards the summit, stating that “The person who is in charge is President Trump”. South Korean officials have stated that Moon has continued to motivate Trump and that South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-Yong has stated:”We believe there is a 99.9 percent chance the North Korea-U.S. summit will be held as scheduled”.
A spokesman from the South Korean administration mentioned that the meeting between Trump and Moon was focused in discussing “ways to address the sense of insecurity North Korea could have after it declared complete denuclearization for the first time”.
Some political analysts have stated the fact that this conflict before the summit will teach president Trump how to deal with North Korea, with him being unable to make non-reciprocal propositions and demands that only fit his priorities and objectives.
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