After cancelling the potentially historic meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the US President Donald Trump is now working fast
WASHINGTON, U. S. – After cancelling the potentially historic meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the U. S. President Donald Trump is now dealing with the summit with a certain urgency.
Trump has dispatched his administration officials across Asia, and a team of U. S. negotiators have also been posted along the Korean Demilitarized Zone for talks with officials from North Korea.
A large advance team led by deputy White House chief of staff Joe Hagin arrived in Singapore late on Monday to make logistical preparations for the summit and the arrival of a corresponding team from Pyongyang is now expected.
Meanwhile, Trump himself discussed details of the summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday.
With all the plans unfolding merely days after Trump shockingly called off the meeting, citing North Korea’s hostility – experts are now wondering if the U. S. President might be giving away too much to put the summit together, making him lose the upper hand he thought he had.
Trump has reportedly been pressing his advisers to move ahead with the goal of making the June 12 meeting with Kim Jong Un possible, with some officials describing the high-stakes scramble, with an uncertain ending.
The U. S. President is also going ahead with plans to hold the summit, despite concerns among top national security staff that there isn’t enough time to prepare.
Reports noted that Trump has now publicly discarded those worries and has sent signals he is intent on carrying out the talks that he officially canceled only four days ago.
According to U. S. officials familiar with the ongoing deliberations, the results of this week’s parallel talks are likely to dictate whether the June 12 summit between Trump and Kim is possible.
The official further revealed that the various teams are hoping to determine what the North Korean leader is willing to agree to should he meet with Trump next month.
There is also a possibility of higher-level talks between U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and top North Korean officials, including possibly Kim Jong Un before the summit.
According to reports, Trump’s top aides, including his national security adviser John Bolton, have advised the President that even a cursory meeting with Kim Jong Un would amount to a diplomatic victory.
Bolton has reported pointed out that such a meeting would allow for more substantive talks to occur in the future.
On Sunday, a couple of days after cancelling the meeting, Trump tweeted, “Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the Summit between Kim Jong Un and myself. I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!”
The following morning, Trump met the Japanese Prime Minister, who reportedly encouraged maintaining firm pressure on North Korea until agreements over its nuclear and missile programs can be reached.
Last month, during a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Abe and Trump had agreed to meet again before the possible June 12 summit.
However, with all eyes on the summit and what comes out of it, experts pointed out on Tuesday that so far, it’s been unclear whether Kim Jong Un is willing to agree to a timetable for abandoning his nuclear weapons program.
Further, they said that it is also not clear what demands he will have for the United States in return.
Despite previous talks between U. S. and North Korean officials, including two meetings between Kim Jong Un and Pompeo, clarity on the denuclearization issue still remains absent.
According to John Park, director of the Korea Working Group at Harvard’s Kennedy School, the most plausible outcome from the talks would be an agreed-upon plan for North Korea to address its nuclear program.
Park said, “When the senior leaders are basically saying move forward, and that’s their message to their working groups, I think there’s a good chance the meeting happens. It’s really going to be the unveiling of a pre-prepared joint declaration, and I think that’s the official launch of this denuclearization mechanism.”
On Tuesday, reports also noted that Kim Jong Un had dispatched his infamous right-hand man on a rare mission to the U. S. amid the diplomatic flurry.
Pyongyang’s longtime spy chief and a vice chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party, Kim Yong Chol was said to have been spotted at Beijing Capital International Airport, where he boarded a flight to New York after first meeting with Chinese officials.
In response, Trump tweeted, “We have put a great team together for our talks with North Korea. Meetings are currently taking place concerning Summit, and more. Kim Young Chol, the Vice Chairman of North Korea, heading now to New York. Solid response to my letter, thank you!”
The White House meanwhile said that Chol will meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York this week and that their talks will largely focus on rescheduling the summit.
