There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea … KCNA also reported that Trump had expressed his intention to lift sanctions “over a period of goodwill dialogue” between the two countries. Kim Jong-un indicated that in Singapore and shared that vision.
Advertisement
“The world should rest assured the United States, Republic of Korea and Japan remain committed to achieve complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea”, he said.
Even as Washington agreed to suspend joint US and South Korean military exercises as the country pursues peace with North Korea and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, Seoul is modernizing its military and purchasing new missiles and fighter aircraft.
Japan has reacted to Trump’s plan to cancel military exercises with South Korea with concern, saying the drills were vital for east Asian security.
The argument also allows Trump’s political allies and supporters in conservative media to claim ahead of the midterm elections that the President has engineered a triumph overseas that was beyond all his predecessors and has made America and the world much safer. Trump and Kim referred back to the so-called Panmunjom Declaration, which contained a weak commitment to denuclearization but no specifics on how to achieve it.
The Secretary of State also added that Trump’s tweet was made with “eyes wide open”. The United States commits to security guarantees; North Korea commits to complete denuclearization.
He set the motion in process when he agreed to North Korea’s participating in the Winter Olympics in South Korea and when he met South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
What’s more, it could give North Korea the right to rebuild its nuclear weapons program even if it did actually go through with dismantling it. Yes, that’s right. After a lot of bluster about Trump disrupting the diplomatic status quo, we got the ultimate bit of status quo diplomacy: a meeting to agree to hold meetings. “Only then will there be relief from the sanctions”.
Pompeo also said he was “confident that we took a very good, significant step in Singapore” and that the United States and North Korea will work together to provide their citizens with the best results. “The V matters”, he said. First he insisted, “It’s in the statement”. “Kim gave us so little, you have to promise more than Kim did when you sign the iTunes user agreement – and I’m not making that up”.
Now that’s frankly ludicrous.
Donald Trump has come a long way from describing Kim Jong-un as “Rocket Man” and threatening “fire and fury”.
Pompeo also cautioned that the USA would resume “war games” with close ally South Korea if the North stops negotiating in good faith.
He told reporters that “one should heavily discount some things that are written in other places – including from some of your colleagues!” At his news conference, Trump said the war games were expensive, provocative and inappropriate. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most unsafe problem. “You think our country’s so innocent?”
Advertisement
He wants to make it very clear that he did not produce the trailer President Trump aired during the Singapore Summit with Kim Jong Un. Consider the contrast. Trump’s meeting with Kim was all smiles and patting on the shoulder, as if he has adopted Kim as his new reality-TV “celebrity apprentice”.
