Now you see the diplomatic trip to Pyongyang—now you don’t!
On Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced his trip next week to Pyongyang with former White House and congressional staffer Steve Biegun, the Trump administration’s new Special Representative for North Korea. Scarcely 24 hours later, on Friday, President Donald Trump asked Pompeo to delay his trip because of a lack of a progress with North Korea. But Trump still sent, he added via Twitter, his “warmest regards to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!”
Steve Biegun may be wondering what he signed up for.
Since giving the diplomatic world whiplash at his summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June, President Donald Trump has been spinning his North Korea policy as a victory. After the summit Trump falsely declared over Twitter that “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.” He has since integrated his claim of success into his stump speech at rallies.
The reality, of course, is quite different. Despite repeated assertions by the Trump administration that Kim Jong Un agreed to give up his nuclear weapons, Kim agreed to no such thing. Since the Singapore summit, both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Trump’s own Secretary of State have confirmed that North Korea continues to expand its nuclear capabilities. Months after the summit, North Korea appears to believe that it has been given the seal of approval as a nuclear power by the U. S. president, while the United States continues to demand that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons.
What, then, does the new special representative and the cancelled Pompeo trip mean?
Appointing an envoy on its own is good: A full-time envoy that has the backing of the secretary of state and White House is a precondition for success in talks. And Pompeo’s willingness to go back to Pyongyang again and again, combined with the appointment of this representative, is a sign of his investment in these talks.
And yet, the State Department personnel isn’t the problem. The career diplomats leading the diplomacy in recent months are first rate. And Pompeo has been personally engaged—next week will mark his fourth trip to North Korea in a matter of months.
The problem lies in the Oval Office. While the turn towards diplomacy was necessary, the president pulled the rug out from under his own negotiators from day one.
