While there were a lot of reasons to be disappointed, even pessimistic
about the future after the Hanoi Summit ended without a deal, official
statements are now coming out of the Korean Peninsula trying to paint
things in a more hopeful light.
In particular, North Korea’s state media is saying that the talks were “productive” and will continue in the future.
This is a much more positive take than comments from the foreign
minister, who expressed uncertainty if North Korea could continue to
negotiate given the US position.
Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho claimed President Trump had presented a false account of the collapse of the talks, adding that North Korea’s demand for partial sanctions relief was
not going to change, and extra talks might not be worthwhile if the US
isn’t ready to deal. The state media, however, suggested they thought it
is worthwhile to keep talking, a position the Trump Administration has
also taken.
So while we didn’t come out of Hanoi with any actual deal, the talks
will be continued. South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office also
issued a statement saying the summit made “more meaningful progress than ever.” While we don’t know what that means, clearly something has come out of these talks.
Good! Let North and South get together just like Germany, and Vietnam. Lets bring our troops home from this endless war. The media in this country is a disgrace. I watched Trumps news conference from Hanoi yesterday. The foreign media acted like true reporters looking for facts. It was nice to see sane journalism.
We still have bases and troops in Germany.
Kim like Trump has gone home empty-handed. I have not yet read that there could be a disappointed third-party namely China which also wants the sanctions on North Korea to be lifted completely. Hence it is conceivable that it was and still is mostly Chinese pressure on Kim which keeps the talks alive from the side of North Korea.
When one compares the to-be-resolved issues of the Iran and North Korea cases one understands that the negotiations with North Korea are much more complex than the Iran negotiations which, in turn, means that the negotiations with North Korea were poorly served with the failed two one-on-one meetings of Trump and Kim. The Singapore meeting was mostly a spectacle because it produced nothing tangible. Only vague promises.
Here is my comparison of the two respective achievements at the beginning of negotiations.
Both Iran and North Korea had industrial-sized facilities to enrich U235.
Iran had a stock of about 20% enriched U235 for use in research- and power reactors. It is not clear to me if North Korea had such material.
Iran had the capability of producing bomb-grade U235 but had not produced a mass sufficiently large for even one weapon. North Korea had already produced and stored a large but unknown mass of bomb-grade U235 not yet inside a weapon.
The U235 enrichment by Iran was monitored by the IAEA. The U235 enrichment of North Korea was conducted secretly.
North Korea had produced (estimates are up to 60 now) and tested nuclear weapons. Iran did not have a single nuclear bomb and had obviously not tested one.
North Korea had a delivery system which can reach the West Coast of our country. Iran had no such delivery system.
Hence the notion that there might be a quick break-through on North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is a dangerous chimera. It will take years before North Korea becomes a non-nuclear state. If at all.
And as far as our nation is concerned neither Iran nor North Korea are now bound by an agreement to refrain from producing bomb-grade U235 and a nuclear arsenal. That is going backwards on reducing nuclear threats.
The ball is in Moon Jae-in’s court now. Trump’s weird hypermodern style of negotiating, coming close to a deal and then letting crazy Bolton rush in and mess it all up, is clearly going nowhere fast. Maybe that was meant to happen. South Koreans can now build that trans-Korea railroad that will link the South with the North and Russia, too. That will effectively end the sanctions and will connect Korea to the New Silk Road where there’s much more of a future than there is with the mercurial militaristic USA. And, Moon Jae-in can give a big fat f-ck you to the continued presence of US troops on the Korean peninsula.
Maybe that’s what Justin meant, that Trump would give the neocons all the rope they needed to hang themselves with, then sanity would prevail and the Koreans would end the Korean War on their own. Who knows, Justin, you might have been right all along as you keep telling us.
I don’t believe for one moment, Thomas, that Trump allowed Bonkers Bolton to burst into the room wherein the summit was being held, Truth is, Bonkers sneaked on board Air Force One and hid somewhere in the back, where Trump couldn’t see him. The POTUS isn’t that stupid as to let Bonkers do what he did. Now, he must fire that psycho and ensures there’ll be real peace on the Korean Peninsula.
At least, the two Korean leaders were a lot better at handling the disturbance and continued their dialogue w/o Trump and Bonkers. As you said, Moon Jae-In can now build that trans-Korean railroad that’ll link the South with the North, and Russia,, too. That’ll effectively end the sanctions and will connect Korea to the New Silk Road where there’s more of a future than there is with the mercurial militaristic US .. And Moon Jae-In can give a big, fat f-ck you to the continued presence of US troops on the Korean Peninsula.
Perhaps, that’s what Justin meant, that Trump would give the Trotkyists all the rope they need with which to hang themselves; then, sanity would prevail and the Koreans would end the Korea Cold War on their own.