Trump U-turn on N Korea
ATRIP by the US’S top diplomat to North Korea was abruptly cancelled by President Donald Trump on Friday, publicly acknowledging for the first time his effort to get Pyongyang to denuclearise had stalled since his summit with the North’s leader.
Trump partly blamed China for the lack of progress with North Korea and suggested talks with Pyongyang, led so far by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, could be on hold until after Washington resolved its bitter trade dispute with Beijing.
It was a dramatic shift of tone for Trump, who had hailed his June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a success and said the nuclear threat was over, despite no real sign Pyongyang was willing to give up its nuclear weapons.
But Trump still kept the door open to a second summit with Kim, with who the president recently said he had “great chemistry”.
“I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Negotiations have been all but deadlocked since the June summit in Singapore. Pompeo has pressed for tangible steps towards North Korea’s abandonment of its nuclear arsenal while Pyongyang is demanding Washington first make concessions of its own.
Trump’s statement came just a day after Pompeo said he would visit North Korea again and would take his new special envoy, former auto industry executive Stephen Biegun, with him.
But Trump asked Pompeo not to go during a Friday meeting and they crafted the tweets together, White House officials said.
Some US intelligence and defence officials had considered Pompeo’s latest trip to be premature and said the prospects for significant progress appeared dim.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke to Pompeo on the phone yesterday and expressed concern over the delay of his visit. Kang asked Pompeo to keep the momentum of dialogue with North Korea to establish denuclearisation and peace on the Korean peninsula.
Trump put some of the onus on China, North Korea’s biggest trading partner and a crucial actor in enforcing sanctions, to keep pressure on Pyongyang.
“Because of our much tougher trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearisation as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place),” Trump said.
“Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our trading relationship with China is resolved,” Trump wrote.
“In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!”
China’s Foreign Ministry yesterday expressed “serious concern” about Trump’s comments, which it called “irresponsible” and said it made “stern representations” to US officials.
It said China would continue to play a positive role in working towards denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.
Kelly Magsamen, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for Asian affairs, said Trump was undermining his leverage with Kim as well as that of Pompeo and his new envoy.
“It’s fine to not send the secretary due to lack of progress but don’t then also talk about how you are eager to meet with KJU and how China is thwarting you,” she said on Twitter.
Christopher Hill, a former US ambassador to South Korea, tweeted: “Looks like realdonaldtrump has begun to worry about #Northkorea intentions. Good decision especially if Pompeo would have returned empty handed.”
Kim made a vague commitment in Singapore to work towards denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula but has given no sign of willingness to give up his arsenal.
Trump’s decision came just days after the UN nuclear watchdog reported it had not found any indication that North Korea had stopped its nuclear activities. – Reuters