Let’s hope Trump’s talks with Kim don’t blow up in his face
DONALD Trump and Kim Jong-un coming together for their on-off-on talks had the potential to be a complete disaster or an amazing success – what we got was a welcome development somewhere in between.
The wording of a paper signed by the two schoolground bullies fell some way short of the dramatic denuclearisation claim Trump made at the end of the historic meeting.
He described it as a “very comprehensive” agreement that would “take care of a very big and very dangerous problem for the world”.
But it still had a distance to travel in providing that.
Cynics would say the five-hour meeting proved to be little more than a meeting about having more meetings but for the first time the States has a real diplomatic relationship with North Korea.
After more than a year of venomous barbs and apocalyptic threats of war, the summit between the two egomaniacs was indeed a relief with its handshakes and courtesy.
Trump deserves credit for setting in motion a process that for the time being will keep the two once enemies talking to each other.
But he would do well not to start creating a place for the Nobel Peace Prize on the mantelpiece just yet.
The statement he signed with Kim was strikingly thin on real action, with little evidence of any substantial progress.
The document does not differ greatly from the agreement issued by Kim and the South Korean president Moon Jae-in after their meeting at the end of April. The truth is Kim and Trump were never going to appear in Singapore and sign a peace treaty.
China and South Korea would need to attend for such a development, and far more time would be required to negotiate a settlement.
But the wins were obvious and none more so than for Kim.
The dictator achieved his wish to appear an equal on a global stage with the President of the world’s mightiest military power.
He also got what his father and grandfather never did – a meeting with a US premier, the legitimacy of being treated as an equal as a nuclear power and his country’s
flag standing side by side the Star Spangled banner. And while American sanctions remain in place, his country will not see any new US sanctions while other countries are expected to begin easing theirs.
Trump, meanwhile, insisted he secured concessions from Kim, including a nuclear and missile test suspension that is already in its seventh month, and the destruction of a missile and an engine test site. But what about the main goal, denuclearisation?
Trump said: “We’re starting that process very quickly. Very, very quickly.”
The statement lacked his previous mantra-like demand or any real substance that denuclearisation not just be complete but also be verifiable and irreversible.
It also contained no definition of “denuclearisation,” which the States and North Korea interpret differently.
But despite the obvious shortcomings, the President should be commended in his desire to have North Korea abandon its nuclear bombs.
The coming together of two enormous and unpredictable egos to discuss one giving up nuclear weapons was a volatile mix that could have ended horribly wrong.
Thankfully it appears the gamble paid off. So let’s hope the Singapore summit doesn’t blow up in the face of Trump whose grasp of reality often makes him his own worst enemy.
He should be commended for his desire for Kim to end nuclear arms