Classified Israeli Report Hints Trump-Kim Summit a Glorified Photo Op
Many lawmakers from both parties, while unready to declare the summit a diplomatic victory or defeat, remained skeptical the US could successfully negotiate a deal toward peace with Kim – but are letting the process play out.
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un understands that denuclearization must happen “quickly”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday, warning there will be no sanctions relief for Pyongyang until the process is complete.
“Everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office”, Trump tweeted.
However, the credibility of that claim is in doubt. “I’m a realist. I’m not trying to bring democracy to North Korea”.
Military vehicles carry missiles with characters reading “Pukkuksong” during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of country’s founding father, Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang.
“Now the peace and development of the Korean Peninsula must be approached with a broader view. North Korea has great potential for the future!”
Also on Thursday, South and North Korea held their first high-level military talks since 2007, discussing ways to ease cross-border tensions.
But they were effectively postponed when North Korea, angered at a U.S.
The South’s Kim said he expected to have fruitful results as delegates from the two Koreas seem eager to reach an agreement on military issues on the agenda.
Trump was criticized for showing support for the military of a dictatorship responsible for human rights abuses.
Media captionTrump Kim summit: Win-win, or a Kim win? But for the rest of us who are watching and know the history of North Korea, we should be skeptical.
Moon met Kim in April and again in May as Pyongyang made a diplomatic push following a provocative run of nuclear and missile tests in 2017.
How has the deal been received?
While Trump was flying back to Washington D.C. aboard Air Force One, North Korean state media began reporting its version of events at the summit, including an apparent pledge by Trump to stop joint military exercises with South Korea while a nuclear accord is negotiated.
“They need the lifting of the economic sanctions as well as some assistance from the outside because they want to boost their economy and revive their economy”, he said.
The president also vowed the country’s own efforts to rid the North of nuclear weapons and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.
But there has been scepticism from both Democrats and Republicans about the lack of detail and surprise announcement about an end to joint drills with South Korea.
The criticism directed at Trump mirrors the anger former President Barack Obama received early in his presidency when he bowed to two foreign leaders.