\nPresident Trump met with North Korean dictator Kim on February 27, 2019,\nfor their second \u201csummit\u201d to address decades old security issues on the Korean\npeninsula. President Trump apparently\nleft the meeting 2 hours early because there was not going to be any\nagreement. That was the good part \u2013 the\nPresident did not enter into a weak or even catastrophic agreement just to make\na deal. Although preparation would\nlikely have prevented such a waste of resources, at least Trump listened to\nSecretary of State Pompeo and refused to sign the bad deal. The failure was the incredibly foolish trip\nitself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThere was no realistic chance of ever having a deal from this trip. Kim had the upper hand based on the first meeting. Briefly restated, Trump gave Kim major\nconcessions including the very act of meeting on a public, world stage. That gave Kim the legitimacy he and his predecessors\nhave craved for generations and no other President foolishly provided. Trump routinely drones on about \u201cour great\nflag\u201d but allowed it to be used as a prop alongside the North Korean flag on\nnow two illegitimate world stages. Trump\nalso ended the decades long military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea\nwhich had been a critical and effective mechanism for enhancing the ability for\nus to cooperate in case of military conflict. \nThese were the two biggest things Kim wanted. Trump gave them away without any concessions\nin return. Trump was also willing to\ngive North Korea the beginnings of an economy by lifting some sanctions and\nallowing some development and investment. That would have been catastrophic without a\ncomprehensive agreement on nuclear weapons that resolves the crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe biggest impediment to an agreement is the lack of understanding or\nagreement concerning the term \u201cdenuclearization.\u201d Rightly or wrongly, North Korea has\nconsistently believed that term to include the removal of all U.S. troops and\nequipment from the peninsula, not simply the removal of nuclear weapons. The U.S., et al, more credibly has believed\ndenuclearization to mean the removal of nuclear weapons but not the removal of\nall U.S. troops and equipment. North\nKorea has previously walked away from or reneged on \u201cdeals\u201d with the U.S.\nbecause of this different understanding and after they were expected to dismantle\ntheir nuclear weapons program while U.S. troops remained on the peninsula. Consequently, there was never an\nunderstanding between Trump and Kim and their first meeting and there was not\ngoing to be one at this meeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAccording to President Trump, he left the meeting without a deal because\nKim demanded that all sanctions be removed. \nKim disputes this, claiming the lack of agreement was based on them\nwanting some sanctions lifted in exchange for dismantling one nuclear\ninstallation. Makes little\ndifference. Trump was correct to walk\naway under either scenario. It is\nimperative to reach an agreement and resolve this crisis that threatens the\npeninsula, the U.S., Japan, and the region. \nSo much rides on a peaceful solution. \nBilateral talks between Trump and Kim will not work. Trump ceded too much, including frequent\ncomments about their \u201cspecial relationship,\u201d and Kim is not likely to make the\nnecessary concessions to him. Japan,\nSouth Korea, and China may need to be brought back in. Some say Russia should be part of the\nprocess, which is a valid point because Putin has been offering to build\nnuclear plants with North Korea on the Russian side of their border. The U.S. needs to immediately restore the military\nexercises with South Korea. They are\nnecessary, we need to remove Kim\u2019s win on that issue, and hopefully this moves\nsome leverage back to the U.S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, this meeting was a not so veiled effort by President Trump to shamefully try and win a Nobel Peace Prize. Other Presidents, specifically Obama, won the prize and this is about Trump\u2019s disgusting ego. He was so determined to win the prize that he was willing to make a bad deal with Kim to garner support. Thankfully the deal was so bad that Trump had to walk away. We can thank Secretary Pompeo in large part for preventing a bad deal. Can we count on Pompeo and Trump going forward?
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