During Summit, Trump Demanded Kim Hand Over All Nukes

In redefining denuclearization, demands raised fear of Bolton's 'Libya model'

In a revelation that puts the failure of the Hanoi summit in a totally new light, officials say that President Trump presented a position paper to Kim Jong Un on the day of the talks’ collapse. This was initially reported as including a list of secret North Korea sites that Kim didn’t think the US knew about.

In reality, the paper was a statement of position in which the US formally defined denuclearization, or rather dramatically redefined it. Instead of just insisting North Korea disarm its nuclear arsenal, the demands were for North Korea to hand over its entire functioning nuclear arsenal, as well as all nuclear fuel, to the United States.

This paper looks to have been a game-changer, and not only did the meeting end early, with the US “walking away” without a deal, but the planned lunch between Kim and Trump was cancelled earlier.

The proposal appears to have sat very poorly with North Korea, seen as effectively the “Libya model” that John Bolton has long advocated. Considering how that ended for Moammar Gadhafi, it is considered a non-starter in North Korea.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.