PEACE ON PENINSULA?
North Korea commits to complete denuclearisation Trump vows to freeze US war games with South Pyongyang to demolish major missile testing site
Clasping hands and forecasting future peace, US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un committed yesterday to “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean Peninsula during the first meeting in history between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.
Yet as Mr Trump toasted the summit’s results, he faced mounting questions about whether he got too little and gave away too much — including an agreement to halt US military exercises with treaty ally South Korea.
Meeting with staged ceremony on a Singapore island, Mr Trump and Mr Kim came together for a summit that seemed unthinkable months ago when the two nations traded nuclear threats. The gathering of the two unpredictable leaders marked a striking gamble by the American president to grant Mr Kim long-sought recognition on the world stage in hopes of ending the North’s nuclear programme.
Both l eaders expressed optimism throughout roughly five hours of talks, with Mr Trump thanking Mr Kim afterwards “for taking the first bold step toward a bright new future for his people”. Mr Kim, for his part, said the leaders had “decided to leave the past behind” and promised: “The world will see a major change.’’
Soon, Mr Kim was on a plane headed home, while a clearly ebullient Mr Trump held forth for more than an hour before the press on what he styled as a historic achievement to avert the prospect of nuclear war. Along the way, Mr Trump tossed out pronouncements on US alliances, human rights and the nature of the accord that he and Mr Kim had signed.
Light on specifics, the agreement largely amounted to an agreement to continue discussions, as it echoed previous public statements and past commitments. It did not, for instance, include an agreement to take steps toward ending the technical state of warfare between the US and North Korea.
Nor did it include a striking concession by Mr Trump, who told reporters he would freeze US military “war games” with ally South Korea while negotiations between the US and the North continue. Mr Trump cast the decision as a cost-saving measure, but also called the exercises “inappropriate” while talks continue. North Korea has long objected to the drills as a security threat.
It was unclear whether South Korea was aware of Mr Trump’s decision before he announced it publicly. Mr Trump phoned South Korean President Moon Jae-in after leaving Singapore to brief him on the discussions.
Mr Trump also said he’d obtained a separate concession from Mr Kim to demolish a missile engine testing site, though it was just one site of many connected to the nuclear programme.
As Mr Trump took a victory lap on the world stage, experts and allies struggled to account for what Mr Trump and Mr Kim had agreed to — and whether this agreement could actually be the first of its kind not to be broken by the North Koreans.
The details of how and when the North would denuclearise appear yet to be determined, as are the nature of the unspecified “protections” Mr Trump is pledging to Mr Kim and his government.
During his press conference, Mr Trump acknowledged that denuclearisation won’t happen overnight, but said, “once you start the process it means it’s pretty much over”.
North Korea is believed to possess more than 50 nuclear warheads, with its atomic programme spread across more than 100 sites constructed over decades to evade international inspections. Mr Trump insisted that strong verification of denuclearisation would be included in a final agreement, saying it was a detail his team would begin sorting out next week.
The agreement’s language on North Korea’s nuclear programme was similar to what the leaders of North and South Korea came up with at their own summit in April. At the time, the Koreans faced criticism for essentially kicking the issue of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal down the road to the Singapore summit. Mr Trump and Mr Kim even directly referred back to the so-called Panmunjom Declaration, which contained a weak commitment to denuclearisation and no specifics on how to achieve it.
Between handshakes, a White House invitation, and even an impromptu tour of “The Beast”, the famed US presidential limousine known for its high-tech fortifications, Mr Trump sought to build a personal connection with Mr Kim and said they have a “very good” relationship.
The US president brushed off questions about his public embrace of the autocrat whose people have been oppressed for decades. He added that Otto Warmbier, an American who died last year just days after his release from imprisonment in North Korea, “did not die in vain” because his death brought about the nuclear talks.
In the run-up to yesterday’s historic faceto-face with Mr Kim, Mr Trump appeared unconcerned about the implications of feting an authoritarian leader accused by the US of ordering the public assassination of his half-brother with a nerve agent, executing his uncle by firing squad and presiding over a notorious gulag estimated to hold 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners.
In their joint statement, the two leaders promised to “build a lasting and stable peace regime” on the Korean Peninsula. Mr Trump has dangled the prospect of economic investment in the North as a sweetener for giving up its nuclear weapons. The longtime property developer-turned-politician later mused about the potential value of condos on the country’s beachfront.
The formal document-signing, which also included an agreement to work to repatriate remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action from the Korean War, followed a series of meetings at a luxury Singapore resort.
The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs released its own statement welcoming “the historic meeting of the leaders of the US and the DPRK”.
It called the event an “epoch-making summit” and called denuclearisation the “key step” on the road to “sustained peace, stability and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula”.
Once you start the [denuclearisation] process it means it’s pretty much over.
DONALD TRUMP
We decided to leave the past behind.... The world will see a major change.
KIM JONG-UN