problem is he’s already given the despot just what he wants
DONALD Trump is pursuing a highrisk strategy with North Korea and it could hurt America’s relationship with its key allies in the region – Japan and South Korea.
But if – and it is a big if – he can strike a deal that lasts, then the risk is worth it to limit and roll back Kim Jong-un’s nuclear arsenal.
The problem is Mr Trump has already given the North Koreans a lot of what they want.
A face-to-face meeting with an American President is a huge propaganda coup for Mr Kim and the summit could be seen as rewarding their rush to develop nuclear weapons.
The North Korean regime is brutal and by smiling and shaking hands with their leaders you give them something which will be played on TV endlessly at home.
Mr Trump’s unconventional style of diplomacy does deserve some credit – just one year ago we looked closer to war than a summit.
But even bigger problems are waiting for the President when we start defining “denuclearisation”.
For the Americans, it means North Korea irreversibly dismantling their ability to create nuclear weapons – and allowing international inspectors in to verify that they have.
But for Mr Kim, it means something different – the end of the extended US nuclear umbrella.
It is hard to see how any US President could find success here without either a total change in the North Korean government or seriously damaging relationships with Japan and South Korea.
The question will be how determined is Mr Trump to make this attempt of negotiating with North Korea a success, and what price is he willing to pay for it? ■■Cristina Varriale is in the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies’ Proliferation and Nuclear Policy Team.