While the abrupt ending to US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s meeting may pose some setbacks for the leaders, the biggest loss was actually felt by the people of the Korean Peninsula, radio host Brian Becker told Sputnik.<\/b>
\n\u00ab\u00a0It’s a setback for Donald Trump as a political leader; it’s a setback for Kim Jong Un, perhaps as a political leader, but certainly as the leader of the country of people who want to\u2026 escape sanctions,\u00a0\u00bb Becker told Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear on Thursday.
\u00ab\u00a0But most importantly, it’s a big loss for the people of Korea. We’re talking about human beings, and we’re talking about a part of the world that’s been at war since 1950\u2026 10 million families divided, who couldn’t see each other and have not seen each other because of this artificial division,\u00a0\u00bb he stressed.
The historic second summit between Trump and Kim, which took place over a period of two days, came to an end this week without an agreement after the US ultimately refused to offer North Korea relief from economic sanctions.
Speaking at a news conference, Trump told reporters that \u00ab\u00a0it was all about the sanctions\u00a0\u00bb and that there were no immediate plans for a third summit, although he is holding out hope for a \u00ab\u00a0good outcome\u00a0\u00bb in the future.
\u00ab\u00a0They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety,\u00a0\u00bb Trump said. \u00ab\u00a0And we couldn’t do that.\u00a0\u00bb
Reporting from the scenes of the since-ended summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, Becker told hosts John Kiriakou and Walter Smolarek that \u00ab\u00a0it was very surprising\u00a0\u00bb when the talks broke down.
\u00ab\u00a0At the sort of late morning, we got the word that something had changed, that there was some scheduling issues. Then the word came that the signing ceremony in fact was canceled,\u00a0\u00bb Becker recalled. \u00ab\u00a0Donald Trump was going to hold a press conference by himself, not with Kim Jong Un, before he headed back on Air Force One earlier than scheduled.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0At the end, it became clear to everyone that whatever they expected to have happened came undone\u2026 maybe not for the hardened, cynical, imperial-orientated White House Press Corp, but for almost all the other journalists, and certainly for the people in Vietnam, and most importantly for the people of Korea, there can’t be but disappointment in terms of the outcome here.\u00a0\u00bb
With much of the US media covering the Trump-Kim summit as a win for Kim and loss for Trump, Becker explained to Kiriakou that it was just a sign that \u00ab\u00a0they have a consensus position of absolute hostility towards peace breaking out in the Korean Peninsula.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0Their coverage should be understood as having a political agenda behind it,\u00a0\u00bb he said. \u00ab\u00a0For the American media to say, \u2018Oh this is a win for Kim Jong Un and a setback for Trump’ and reduce it to that and ignore the human factor shows that these people actually don’t care about human beings.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0That should be a big takeaway as we continue to assess and analyze why this happened and what’s coming next,\u00a0\u00bb he added.
Reacting to the failed talks, a statement from South Korea’s presidential office referred to the result as \u00ab\u00a0regrettable,\u00a0\u00bb but said that both world leaders made \u00ab\u00a0more meaningful progress than at any time prior.\u00a0\u00bb
Trump and Kim previously had their first-ever meeting in June 2018 in Singapore. That summit ended with a four-point declaration that paved the way toward renewed bilateral relations between both countries and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, among other goals.<\/p>\n