I wonder if the sudden walk-out was planned by both leaders so they could go home and say, “See we are being tough on the other guys!” Then they could come back and agree to some of the things the did not agree to on this trip. And the South Korean leader can continue to bridge the gap and keep the negotiating process moving forward.
That’s how diplomacy works.
(Also bribes and blackmail.)
Maintaining a dialogue is a good thing; rewarding Little Kim for going back on his word, for disregarding the words he agreed to in Singapore is not.
Trump isn't going to agree to any amount of play acting with a dictator, that is hardly his style. The Norks know what our position is: complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearization. But some of the generals aren't on board yet, so it could be a while yet.
Pompeo or Trump revealed a lot in one of their statements when they said that Little Kim had a message to take back to his generals. Little Kim is in power for just as long as the generals allow him to be. The Norks are a military dictatorship with him as a figurehead. The amount of actual power or flexibility he has is questionable and the real powers-that-be back in North Korea are very concerned about giving up any of the perks they presently enjoy.
The Norks are being coached by the most underhanded, backstabbing pack of liars on the planet, the ChiComs. As a friend of mine has shared from his significant experience dealing with them,
"...once you sign a contract with the Chinese Communists is when the real negotiation process begins..."
We're not even that far with the Norks yet. They have signed previous agreements with the group of four (or five? Whatever) and always broken their word. They will never stick to their word unless you keep a club handy to hold over their heads. That is how their feudal system still works. To a lesser degree, that is still how it works in the PRC.
I get the need to want to cheer on negotiations but I notice most people on FR know very little about how SOUTH Korean politics works, not to mention who Moon Jae In is, what his intentions are, his party platform, etc...there are very legitimate reasons why Koreans in particular..the good, conservative ones are skeptical of any meaningful progress happening with Moon at the helm. No matter how good Trump’s intentions may be.
So called concessions from Kim Jong Un are often manipulative. And also, China and Russia are just as much if not more of major players than South Korea is in terms of controlling the dynamic of the peninsula.
I wonder if the sudden walk-out was planned by both leaders so they could go home and say, “See we are being tough on the other guys!” Then they could come back and agree to some of the things the did not agree to on this trip. And the South Korean leader can continue to bridge the gap and keep the negotiating process moving forward.Moon's overly conciliatory posture toward DPRK and his vision of reunification has weakened Trump's position from the beginning. Pushing to reconcile via 'joint inter-Korean economic projects' weakens the sanctions and puts money in NK's coffers without actually forcing Kim to give up his weapons programs. It also means ROK investments in the north that they will not want to lose, weakening their hand in future negotiations.
Good cop, bad cop. The “failure” of talks probably works out well for both. President Trump sends a strong message to China that “no deal” is always an option for him rather than accepting a bad deal. Kim gets to go back as the leader who didn’t cave to the big bad west - but then later on will deal with the “far more reasonable” SK government.