Posted on 07/03/2019 4:03:55 PM PDT by Kaslin
n November 2017, President Trump was forced to cancel planned travel to the Korean denuclearized zone due to fog. The visit, in the wake of the president’s “fire and fury” rhetoric, had been planned to demonstrate the strength and solidarity of the U.S. relationship with South Korea.
Trump is probably now thankful that the visit never took place because a year and a half later, he became the first sitting president to set foot in North Korea under entirely different circumstances.
Trump held an almost one-hour meeting with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un. Purposely keeping expectations low, Trump faced criticism ostensibly for seeking a public relations photo opportunity with a ruthless dictator.
Trump’s visit to the DMZ, said his critics, would further legitimize Kim Jong Un without taking any meaningful steps towards denuclearization in the Korean peninsula.
Trump may have appeared to be operating on a whim and without a script, but he did in fact seemingly have a strategy. And he is banking on North Korea, China, and Russia understanding its finer points.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Kim in April, and Kim hosted Chinese Premier Xi Jinping to a state visit in June. Russia and China would like to reduce, if not eliminate altogether, the U.S. military presence in the Korean peninsula.
Focused on economic predation of North Korea, which entails productive relations with Kim’s ruthless dictatorship, China and Russia have openly argued for reducing sanctions before North Korea completes denuclearization.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“China and Russia have openly argued for reducing sanctions before North Korea completes denuclearization.”
Cannot happen that way, so there needs to be a more creative solution.
Panmunjom Summit: Kim Jong Un meets Donald Trump - North Korean TV Report (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) (the video - 16:11)
How about:
1. Trump asks for this meet (well in advance of masterful Tweet)
2. Kim agrees and arranges for Trump to have the honor of crossing the border (honor being a big deal there)
3. Trump reciprocates with an invite to the WH
4. And...signs off on the formal end of the Korean War (symbolic, but symbolism is also a big deal)
5. And the cherry on top could be to hand off control of US troops in Korea to President Moon. (truly signalling the end of hostilities)
Seems to me this would set the stage for KJU to make an equally significant step toward de-nuclearization. Like some initial promises and a timetable for more.
The key to negotiation is to know what the other side wants and to try to find a way to give it to them. In this case Kim wants to appear to be strong, an international leader to be reckoned with. Giving him the above would be doing this without really giving up anything important.
Keeping the lines pf communication between principals open. Does it have to be more complicated than that? /rhetorical
It’s going to have to be something creative like that. Ordinarily I’d say that China would have to control the NK nuclear arsenal as guarantor of the deal. Not sure if KJU would go for that. Korean independence is a huge deal and anything that signals that they have vassal-status would probably not work.
“denuclearized zone”?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.