Posted on 05/24/2018 7:36:33 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
This morning Ed reported that President Trump had canceled his planned summit with Kim Jong-Un. This afternoon, Trump called the cancelation a “tremendous setback for North Korea” and for the world. But as Allahpundit noted, Trump also left the door open a crack saying, “If and when Kim Jong-un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting.” It turns out Trump didn’t have to wait long. From Bloomberg:
In a statement Friday by state-run KCNA that cited Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea vowed to continue to pursue peace and signaled it would give Washington more time to reconsider talks.
“Our goal and will to do everything for peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and mankind remains unchanged, and we are always willing to give time and opportunity to the US side with a big and open mind,” according to the statement. “We express our intent that there is a willingness to sit at any time, in any way to resolve issues.”
So is there a chance the June 12 meeting could be back on? Not likely according to Bloomberg’s source:
A senior administration official later downplayed the idea that the meeting could be put back on track for June 12. The North Koreans, the official said, have recently stopped cooperating on preparations for the summit. For example, U.S. officials traveled to Singapore last week expecting to meet with North Korean counterparts, but the North Koreans never showed up.
“They stood us up,” the official said at a briefing for reporters conducted on condition of anonymity.
The NY Times story on the cancelation points out that President Trump believes North Korea blew up the meeting on orders from President Xi of China:
Mr. Trump has said he believes North Korea’s tone changed after Mr. Kim met President Xi Jinping in the coastal Chinese city of Dalian in early May. Mr. Trump suggested that Mr. Xi might be using China’s influence over North Korea as leverage in trade negotiations with the United States.
“I think Xi told Kim to slow down,” said Joseph Y. Yun, who was until recently the State Department’s senior diplomat on North Korea. “Also, I think Kim was getting pushback from his own folks, as Trump was.”
Trump has said all along that a resolution of the North Korean problem depended on China. Now it seems China is pulling the leash a bit rather than allowing Trump to get credit for a big foreign policy win. Instead, it seems plausible Xi is looking for something in exchange for his blessing of a denuclearization deal.
Let’s see: We’ll be happy to talk but cut the crap.
Let them beg for that meeting.
“North Korea vowed to continue to pursue peace and signaled it would give Washington more time to reconsider talks.”
Say what?
Trumps got the cards...and NK is running out of time. I think late October would be a good time for the meeting and do it in the DMZ.
“I think late October would be a good time for the meeting and do it in the DMZ.”
Coincidentally , just yesterday I was thinking about visiting Seoul ( from Japan ) in October . It’d be cool to be in Korea when the deal goes down - and it will .
Swear to Buddha, this is some kind if high stakes 3D Zen Chess being played and Trump is the Master.
Earn the reputation as “The Don” of international politics. 😁
Damn, this guy (Trump) is good. Now he has North Korea dancing.
China was peachy keen for the Norks to give up their nukes and join the modern world, but they wanted no part of a unified Korean peninsula as a next door neighbor.
China didn’t worry about their citizens hauling ass with the NORK $hithole next door, but a modern democracy is a whole different thing.
The president should push for a unified Korea.
The carrot to be dangled in front of the Chinese....
arrange for Chinese companies to have some (but not all) of the contracts to bring North Korea into the 21st century.
That economic carrot might be too much for the Chinese to resist.
Can only imagine the tension within the Nork ministry.
Exactly
No orea will be just like the south in a generation
The Korean people are amazing
And so are the Chinese but they ain’t free and the overlords ain’t giving them it anytime soon
Those liberals who were slavering all over themselves today, ridiculing President Trump for canceling, making him out to be a fool, ended up having to suck it all back up, when NK came back whimpering and begging, later in the day. No matter how they try to stick it to him, they always end up with the dirty end of the stick, themselves, and he always comes out on top!
Haha!
Have the left criticized Trump yet for tormenting Kim so?
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