Crucial talks to save summit
Planning talks loom as US President says his meeting with North Korea’s leader could be cancelled or delayed
US President Donald Trump acknowledged that there is a “substantial chance” a scheduled summit with Kim Jong Un could be cancelled, as top aides prepared to travel to Singapore for a crucial planning meeting this weekend with North Korean officials.
Their trip comes less than two weeks after a North Korean delegation failed to show up for a similar planning meeting with US officials there, a failure that raised red flags at the White House, according to people familiar with the situation.
Members of the White House negotiating team, which includes Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph Hagin and deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel, intend to discuss with their North Korean counterparts the specific agenda and logistics for the June 12 summit in Singapore.
“I don’t want to waste a lot of time, and I’m sure he doesn’t want to waste a lot of time. So there’s a very substantial chance that it won’t work out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office before a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae In. “That doesn’t mean it won’t work out over a period of time. But it may not work out for June 12th.”
The uncertainty over the planning coincides with recent hardline rhetoric from Pyongyang that has led the White House to fear that Kim, after a burst of diplomatic outreach, is reverting to the regime’s usual antagonistic and belligerent posture to gain leverage in the talks or to lay the groundwork to pull out.
Trump suggested that Kim could be having second thoughts because he is taking a major risk in entering negotiations with global powers. Over the past two months, Kim has made three trips outside his country — two to China and one over the border to South Korea — for the first time since taking power in 2011.
“North Korea has a chance to be a great country,” Trump said. “It can’t
be a great country under the circumstances they’re living in right now. I think they should seize the opportunity.”
The North Koreans have sent signals to US officials that Kim is skittish about logistical concerns, including ensuring that his plane would be able to access enough fuel for the 9655km round trip flight and safeguarding his security while on the ground in Singapore.
Among other things, Kim purportedly is concerned that a trip so far from home could expose him to a military coup or other internal attempts to unseat him, sources said. During Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s meeting with Kim this month, he outlined his expectations for a fast and comprehensive denuclearisation plan for the peninsula, said individuals familiar with the meeting. Kim focused on logistical issues and lingering concerns about the long-term integrity of a security guarantee from the US.
Trump attempted to reassure Kim that he would remain in power under any deal to relinquish North Korea’s nuclear weapons. “I will guarantee his safety, yes,” Trump said. “He will be safe, he will be happy, his country will be rich, his country will be hardworking and prosperous.”
The US President has ongoing issues of his own.
Trump declined to say whether he has confidence in Deputy AttorneyGeneral Rod Rosenstein, escalating pressure on the Justice Department. Asked before a private meeting with Moon if he has confidence in Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Special Counsel’s Russia investigation, he said: “Excuse me, I have the President of South Korea here. He doesn’t want to hear these questions, if you don’t mind.”
In a legal issue that could hold significance for Trump, a longtime business partner of his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has pleaded guilty to tax fraud in a deal that requires him to cooperate in any ongoing investigations. New York City taxi magnate Evgeny Freidman entered the guilty plea at a court in Albany.
Freidman, known as the ‘ Taxi King,’ agreed to cooperate with federal or state authorities. State prosecutors charged Freidman last year with pocketing US$5 million in state taxes on taxis he managed. For years he’s managed hundreds of cabs, including more than two dozen owned by Cohen.