President tones down optimism over N Korea
‘We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won’t’
DONALD TRUMP last night moved to dampen heightened expectations of a rapid nuclear deal with North Korea, saying the issue was far from over.
Excitement at the prospect of an end to tensions with the rogue state has risen ever since Mr Trump stunned the world by accepting an invitation to meet Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader. On Saturday, Pyongyang announced it was suspending weapons tests and closing its nuclear testing site.
“Wow, we haven’t given up anything and they have agreed to denuclearisation (so great for world), site closure, and no more testing,” was Mr Trump’s immediate response.
But yesterday the American president sounded an uncharacteristic note of caution on Twitter.
Mr Trump wrote: “We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won’t – only time will tell.”
In fact, Kim had not included a promise to rid his country of existing nuclear weapons, and analysts remained doubtful he would give up the missiles he believed guaranteed his regime’s survival.
Mr Trump’s comments reportedly surprised White House officials, who had expected some kind of confidencebuilding words before the planned summit. They expressed their scepticism to The Washington Post, suggesting Kim was offering modest pledges to create the “illusion” that he was open to negotiation but which could easily be reversed.
Regional experts suggested Mr Trump would do well to point out that North Korea was unlikely to give up its weapons after spending decades developing a deterrent.
Nam Sung-wook, a professor of North Korean Studies at Korea University in Seoul, said: “North Korea has a long history of raising the issue of denuclearisation and has committed to freeze its nuclear weapons programmes in the past.
“We all remember how those pledges and commitments went down over past decades.”
However, the current rapprochement still marks a stark change from last year, when the two leaders swapped insults and threatened war.