US envoy to brief Asia allies on US-NoKor
SINGAPORE (AP) — The top US diplomat jetted to South Korea yesterday for talks as America’s Asian allies try to parse the implications of the unprecedented summit in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, which ended with a renewed commitment for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, but also a pledge by Trump to end longstanding war games that unsettle Pyongyang.
Much of Asia was still trying to process the whirlwind events of the day before.
There was, at times, a surreal quality to the carefully staged, five-hour meeting of two men who’d been threatening each other with nuclear war and insulting each other’s mental and physical attributes just months before.
Trump repeatedly praised Kim’s negotiating skills and their new relationship and expressed hope for “a bright new future” for Kim’s impoverished nation.
Yesterday saw worries, however, especially in US allies Tokyo and Seoul, which both have huge US military presences, about Trump agreeing to halt the US military exercises with South Korea, which the North has long claimed were invasion preparations.
That concession to Kim appeared to catch the Pentagon and officials in Seoul off guard.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left Singapore yesterday on his way to Seoul, where he planned to meet privately in the evening with Gen. Vincent Brooks, commander of US Forces Korea.
Pompeo will meet President Moon Jaein today to discuss the summit. Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono is also heading to Seoul and is due to meet with Pompeo and his South Korean counterpart. Pompeo, the former CIA director, plans to fly to Beijing to update the Chinese government on the talks.
On the issue the world has been most fixated on — North Korea’s pursuit of a nuclear arsenal meant to target the entire US mainland — Trump and Kim signed a joint statement that contained a repeat of past vows to work toward a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.
The details of how and when the North would denuclearize appear yet to be determined, as are the nature of the unspecified “protections” Trump is pledging to Kim and his government.
Despite the confusion and disappointment among some, the summit managed to, for a time at least, reset a relationship that has long been characterized by bloodshed and threats. It was unthinkable as the two leaders traded insults and nuclear threats. In agreeing to the summit, Trump risked granting Kim his long-sought recognition on the world stage in hopes of ending the North’s nuclear program.
North Korea is believed to possess more than 50 nuclear warheads, with its atomic program spread across more than 100 sites constructed over decades to evade international inspections.
Trump insisted that strong verification of denuclearization would be included in a final agreement, saying it was a detail his team would begin sorting out with the North Koreans next week.
Moon has championed engagement with the North, and the agreement’s language on North Korea’s nuclear program was similar to what the leaders of North and South Korea came up with at their own summit in April.
Trump and Kim referred back to the so-called Panmunjom Declaration, which contained a weak commitment to denuclearization but no specifics on how to achieve it.