US secretary of state’s Asia tour a push to implement Singapore deal
The ongoing tour of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to four Asian nations is aimed at building on the momentum of the denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang and put meat on the bare bones of the Singapore communique, experts said.
According to a statement released by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert last week, Pompeo’s tour includes the capitals of Japan, North Korea (DPRK), South Korea and China from Saturday to Monday.
“Throughout the secretary’s trip he will reiterate the Administration’s continued focus on the final, fully verifiable, denuclearization of the DPRK, and long-standing commitment to our alliances and partnerships in the region,” the statement said.
Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that Pompeo’s trip “is to continue momentum surrounding nuclear disarmament and to determine what the gaps are between North Korea and the US when it comes to understanding just what the desired end state is.”
“It is interesting to see what security guarantees, economic inducements, and diplomatic offers they (North Korea) seek from the US and South Korean governments to keep this process moving,” he said. “I think there is momentum toward a treaty to end the war, yet differing visions for what the peace treaty would mean in terms of the close cooperation and alliance structure between the US and South Korea.”
However, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon told Xinhua that “the core challenge being to agree at least in broad terms on at least the first part of a nuclear deal that would halt production of more bombs promptly. Without that, everything else is hard, maybe too hard.”
Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, “indications are the US wants measurable progress toward denuclearization and the North wants an end to the state of war, but the North’s media rejects these as trade-offs, and wants its demand for an end to the armistice first.”
“Pompeo’s credibility is very much on the line if he cannot show progress on something directly related to the North nuclear and missile capabilities. Presumably his meeting with Foreign Minister Ri (Yongho) gave him some indication this trip would not be a waste of time,” the expert pointed out. “A peace treaty is a long way away, and would require other actors, such as Seoul and Beijing.”
A senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation Bruce Klingner said, “Pompeo is hoping to put meat on the bare bones of the Singapore communique by getting Pyongyang to accept the UN-mandated denuclearization of its arsenal.”
“There does not seem to have been any behind-thescenes progress or success, so the situation has not actually changed from when Pompeo’s August trip was cancelled,” he said.
“Pompeo should condition a second US-North Korean summit on viable progress on a denuclearization accord far stronger than the Singapore communique. The concern is that his visit is simply to deal with logistics for another illprepared summit based more on theatrics than substance,” he added.
Saying that there are significant reasons arguing against the United States signing a peace declaration, Klingner said Trump may be tempted by the seeming historic aspect of doing so.
Overall, the “Trump administration now faces the dilemma of enforcing principles and risking strained relations with Seoul, or boarding the euphoric peace train,” he said.