Trump Threatens to Leverage South Korea Trade Deal in North Korea Talks

He called for a plan deploying $200 billion in federal money to spur at least $1.5 trillion in spending over a decade to fix or replace highways, bridges, ports, airports and other infrastructure.

In fact, Kim reportedly told the special envoy on March 5 that “there is no need for nuclear weapons as long as the safety of our regime is guaranteed”, a daring statement that went beyond South Korea’s expectations.

“You know why?” he said.

Kim Jong-un and President Moon of South Korea will meet for the first time next month as diplomatic efforts to resolve a nuclear stand-off gather pace despite lingering doubts over the North’s intentions and nervousness surrounding President Trump’s involvement.

North Korea’s diplomatic engagement comes in sharp contrast to 2017 when the peninsula appeared to be barreling toward imminent conflict, with Kim overseeing a string of missile and nuclear tests and Trump promising “fire and fury” as Pyongyang threatened Guam, Hawaii and even the USA mainland. North Korea over the past two decades has been repeatedly accused of using disarmament talks as a way to ease outside pressure and win badly needed aid, while continuing to secretly push ahead with weapons development.

US and South Korean trade representatives had agreed USA steel tariffs would not apply against South Korean firms and that South Korea would lift restrictions on USA automobiles. Mr. Trump has made much of that process public.

“This is an extension of the negotiating technique Mr. Trump developed in the NY real estate market, where cynicism reigns”, Freeman said. “We’re trying to grasp the genuine intent behind President Trump’s remarks”, South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Paik Un-gyu said Friday.

Whenever South Korean President Moon Jae-in had a phone call with Mr. Trump to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue in recent months, Mr. Moon also raised the trade agenda, the Blue House official said.

South Korean government officials have held high-level talks with their North Korean counterparts and set a date of 27 April for the summit. He says he wants to hold it up until after a deal is made with North Korea.

“Just this week we secured a wonderful deal with South Korea, we were in a deal that was a horror show”, Trump said. “North Korea talks, it could unnecessarily complicate our relationship”.

The deal also lifts the threat of a 25 per cent USA tariff on imports of steel from South Korea in exchange for quotas that will effectively cut United States imports of Korean steel by about 30 per cent.

Whatever one thinks about the merits of KORUS, this is a bad way to treat an ally.

Yesterday, the president hailed the agreement as a “great deal for American and Korean workers”.

But in a concession to political realities in Washington, where lawmakers are increasingly focused on their re-elections in what is set to be a hard campaign cycle for Republicans, Trump said, “You’re probably going to have to wait until after the election”.

It’s a concession by the president to the political realities in Washington.