Did anyone expect North Korea to readily accede to the Trump demand to unilatterally disarm with the example of Iraq at hand?
The whole thrust of this article seems to me to miss the major point:
Witnessing graphic evidence every day of Trump's glee in shredding every carefully developed treaty, promise, and policy in sight (eg, Iran, Israel, China (trade) -- and before that, health care, net neutrality, environmental regulation, gun control measures, and on and on)....
Why should anyone in N. Korea imagine for a minute that Trump could be trusted to honor any negotiated agreement at all, much less one requiring them to give away their entire source of security before anything else happens?
That would be madness.
1
Again I say, what do we have to fear from a few nukes in a tiny country with our military bases a stone's throw away? If Kim ever dared to launch an unprovoked nuclear strike, wouldn't our CIA and military intelligence and satellite surveillance know it was coming and our forces on the peninsula shoot it down? I mean, what are we spending billions of dollars to maintain, man and equip those South Korea installations for if not to discourage and respond to any aggression by North Korea and China in that region? Our military is always asking for more and more money and Congress is always eager to give it to them, especially this Congress and this President. When is it enough?
There goes the Nobel!
2
Sooo... What happens to the Nobel?
1
There goes the imaginary Nobel! Maybe the liar-in-chief can salvage it by bulling out US troops in S Korea and toss in a few goodies while allowing N Korea to keep their nukes, just the same way he wants to save Chinese jobs in NTE.
I thought Putin elected him. Maybe Xi too? Sad!
2
This is absolute comedy. DPRK, in fact, more than one person, will not give up its hold on Korea, Japan, and the US. They are simply asking the US to begin giving things through time that DPRK, from its leadership perspective, would be sufficient to continue discussions.
The absolute idiotic belief that DPRK, an Asian culture, would make a grand bargain with a lying thief, aka Bolton/Trump, at one shot, is truly comical. Are there people that believe this is possible???
1
I used to enjoy reading the comments section, but now they are nothing but an echo chamber, un-objective and uninspired. I am no fan of this president, but your readers are more terrified of any success he may have than they are are of failed outcomes.
2
“But American officials acknowledged that the North appeared to be seeking to exploit a gap in the administration’s messages about North Korea — between the hard-line views of the national security adviser, John R. Bolton, and the more conciliatory tone of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has met twice with Mr. Kim in Pyongyang to lay the groundwork for the summit.”
Shameless. One hundred percent. Absolutely shameless. These “reporters” and editors need a time out.
Read what you were writing about Pomleo weeks ago fools.
Next, to our Rogue President Trump Kim looks like a very rational head of state.
1
Of course they're going to brush this off and claim they were expecting it. Lying thieving criminals the lot of them. I can't wait to see Sarah Huckabee Sanders in leg-irons.
1
The First Annual "Donald J. Trump Booby Prize" has been awarded and there was a tie between two well deserving candidates.
This years recipients of the first "Donald J. Trump Booby Prize" will be John Bolton and Donald Trump.
Once again our "Master Negotiator" has been out played.
The White House's comment that Trump "would be fine" if the meeting with North Korea were not held—
Is ridiculous. [This is just a preemptive damage control effort.]
Trump would not "be fine". He has no diplomatic skill whatsoever. And there is nothing for him to "be fine" about, or the country to "be fine" about while he remains in the Oval Office.
1
If the summit does take place, it might be a good idea to leave Mr. Bolton at home.
"...President Trump would be fine if it did not" - and after all, that's what matters, right?
1
Well, if the talks are not forthcoming, then will the "president" still be considered for a Nobel Peace Prize. After all, there was some effort.
If North Korea wanted to destroy America, they would make Trump look good and help the Republicans maintain control of all branches of government. More effective than a bomb.
1
I never thought it would come off. Frankly, the idea of getting these two numb-skulls into a room together never made any sense in the first place.
This is some sort of China/NK gambit. Kim has had two secret meetings with Xi in the last few months. This is unprecedented.
They have a plan, and the stupidly reckless Trump is about to step in whatever it may be.
1
Kim Jong-un is a terrible dictator, though so much brighter than Trump. Kim takes a long view. Trump will not best him. Trump has no policy, only show biz. As my daughter just commented, Trump should never have been president, but should be playing golf and hitting on waitresses, the milieu in which he's at home.
Should the talks implode, Trump's chances for a Noble will implode as well. However he is a strong candidate for an Ignoble Prize. Just tell him Obama never ever won one, he'll be over the moon.
The Bolton approach is the only way to genuinely de-nuclearise the Korean peninsula. Anything less means that Trump would join his predecessors as chumps.
Kim has never said he will give up his nukes. If he had then surely the crisis would be over.
Kim's recent charm offensive was simply an effort at wedge politics ... to cause problems between South Korea and the US.
I don't think anything that Kim says would come as a surprise to the Trump team ... unless it was "I will give up my nukes".
Here is how the deal works. trump gets a, minimum off 75% all money that goes to both koreas and his name and picture bigger and in more places than Kim
1
Do Trump and his minions know that their enemies watch television?loose talk sinks summit meetings. Trump's surrogates on the Sunday shows all portrayed Trump as the man who brought about the proposed summit. Relegating Kim's efforts as kowtowing. Listening to Bolton's rants and listening to the Fox network experts squelched things for Kim.
1
Bolton is an idiot. Did he really think Kim would feel fuzzy comfy with being put in the same vulnerable position that Qaddafi left himself in?
Or is Bombs away Bolton trying to sabotage the talks before they even begin?
6
It's best for us and the world that the whole administration just be funneled away as soon as possible—
Yes, like Rudy said, "funneled through a law firm".
1
Always knew Trump would fail on this, failing is his history after all. He likely expected to fail running for President & was as surprised as anyone. You look under the hood & pretty much everything he claims is a success is failing someone somehow somewhere.
5
Kim is just playing with Trump. He is not gonna give up his nuclear weapons.
At some point, Trump would downplay the crisis with with N. Korea. Trump's approach to Iran is already a failure and an embarrassment for America.
6
"The White House saying... Mr. Trump would be fine if the meeting did not take place."
Team Trump tells the silliest lies imaginable.
5
another possible hurdle for both sides will be whose hairstylist should get first credit.
4
"White House Brushes Aside North Korea’s Threats to Cancel Summit With Trump"
Yeah, Sarah, just brush aside those 'ol threats to cancel the Grand Summit between two like-minded men, one a bonafide dictator, and the other a wannabe dictator.
Just brush aside those threats, like you brush aside everything that does not suit the usual daily lies that emanate from the White House. Brush aside the truth, the lies, the facts and the non-facts. Brush it ALL aside, Sarah. After all, in today's America, who needs sane, reasoned accurate and truthful information from the People's House when we have you to rely on?
8
The chaos president meets the mercurial chairman. Both cut from the same cloth. Both living in a bubble. The immovable object and the irresistible force. And the world is in the middle.
3
Mr Kim is proving to be smarter in « the art of the deal » than the author of that book....
4
It would be amazing if Kim were not smarter than Trump.
1
Whether NK ever intended to go through with this charade is unknowable; but for little trump to say he's "fine with it" if it doesn't is simply laughable. He was betting the farm on this as a way to show, truthfully or not, that he is a player on the world stage. Of course, he isn't and the way China & NK are manipulating him is just "proof in the pudding". What a complete set of nincompoops little trump and his entire ship of fools are.
6
All these public pronouncements by Trump is choreographed by the Russians. Blow hot and blow cold to monitor the American voters views to facilitate a second term win for President Trump. Since the social media kind of shutdown for the Russians, they are using the leaders of N Korea and Iran to sway the American public opinion. It is working. The approval rate of Trump moved up. Until the midterm elections are over Trump keep blowing hot and cold in sync with the leaders of Iran and N Korea. The so called Nobel for Trump is planted by Russians. Wait until midterm elections are over, the tune will change. If he gets re-elected, the real Trump will show up and it is going to be ugly.
3
Five bucks says trump’ll cancel the meeting (after NK cancels it).
7
I guess Trump's end zone dance was a bit premature.
4
How many went straight to the comments and found what they were expecting? Most on this board sound gleeful that this may fail only to say I told you so.
1
The world has nothing to prove to North Korea. It’s the other way around, and Times readers used to believe this. All this “enemy of my enemy” nonsense is getting ridiculous.
Give Trump a chance here. He has already brought more prisoners home alive than any previous sitting POTUS. I know that’s a bitter pill, I get it. But those facts you care so much about back it up.
1
With no plan and no work by the administration, how did he think this would go? He bought in hook line and sinker to Un. Cautious optimism would have been appropriate, but that didn’t happen. Not to mention , his team didn’t even let North Korea save face, instead rubbing their noses in failure. By the way, the nuclear testing facility offered is already defunct. Kindergarteners are running the show here and we all see who’s behind the curtain.
After the dirtiest campaign trick in recent history Regan brought a plane full of Iranian hostages out of that country alive. Prisoners by any other name. We also saw the return of POWs from North Viet Nam. It is not something that hurts decent Americans at all to see prisoners unlawfully held in foreign prisons returned home and it is despicable that you consider it a political plus point to even mention something like that
Your president is an ignorant and cruel braggart who refuses to give sanction to those in danger from the dictators and violence in other parts of the world. Since just this Sunday he has negated his own trade policy, shown his callousness to a massacre that his reckless narcissism fueled and now has been shown to be completely unprepared for a meeting with North Korea. His own former Sec'y of State has cautioned that the,US is beginning to suffer from a loss of morals and integrity.
The sad part about this how predictable it was. North Korea gave DJT just enough rope to hang himself.
Now that he's spent the past couple weeks bragging about his own success and awarding himself the Nobel Peace Prize, North Korea can basically make whatever absurd demands they want. They know that they've got DJT in an compromising position and he will bend over backwards to avoid embarrassment.
Donald Trump's ego has substantially weakened the US negotiating position.
4
I claim no expertise in diplomacy, but I do know a little history, and some things look clear to me. North Korea has been afraid of the U.S. for decades, since the Korean War. They fear we will crush them at some point. An atomic weapon is their insurance of survival, and as insurance goes, it's the best.
North Korea might or might not want the war status to end on the peninsula, but in NO case will North Korea give up it's nuclear arsenal while U.S. troops are present. Neither side trusts the other, so that means the U.S. will probably never withdraw American troops as long as the north's nuclear arms are present. It is an impasse, in my opinion
3
I was in South Korea last month, and very surprised to hear Kim never referred to by name, but rather only called "Rocket Man".
The Trumpism has hit a nerve and taken root there, with zero irony.
1
We saw trump's diplomacy 45 years ago on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. "Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat." "Wrong hat."
4
No way will Kim every give up nukes as long as Trump is President. Would anyone with an IQ above 80 believe anything Trumps says or a treaty he would sign? Thought so.
2
This is Bolton's work. He has likened the N Korea situation to Libya - and Kim got it in one. Gadaffi ended his nuclear programme, became toothless, he was deposed and he got killed. This was the direct message Bolton put out. Why would the Koreans go along with this - in any event, the US is now a lying nation whose words means nothing. Ask the Ayatollahs who played by the rules.
1
"The president has shifted between a hard-line and more conciliatory tone in his statements about the North, although in recent days he has expressed excitement about a potential breakthrough with Mr. Kim. He has not yet responded to the warning Wednesday issued by the North’s first vice foreign minister...."
He clearly just wants to win a prize so he can claim how infinitely more clever he is than everyone else -- and then maybe Mommy and Daddy will put a bumper sticker on the car proclaiming him Diplomat of the Month. Meanwhile the latest West Wing Keystone Cop clowns-in-a-car continue falling all over each other.
Just yesterday morning, I heard a clip on the radio featuring Hillary Clinton in an Australian interview in which she said she was hopeful but not optimistic about this whole thing, because North Korea has a track record of making promises and then breaking them. Hello.
Sounds suspiciously familiar, actually. Perhaps the prevaricator in chief has finally met his match. North Korea will likely play him like a fiddle for the fool that he is.
Who's clever now?
North Korea will play him like a fiddle for the fool he is.
2
Trump and Kim have much in common. That they both back out of deals made and in process is the most obvious.
1
Kim knows that he is negotiating with the best negotiator that America ever had. Not like the previous community organizer president that had zero experience at anything. Kim is doing the negotiating dance to create bargaining chips.
I guess Trump would have to return the Nobel Prize for Peace, he awarded himself.
4
“The president is ready if the meeting takes place,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders". That means he has his half page summary, IPad for tweeting and a Big Mac with a double order of fries and a milkshake.
4
Many of the readers blame Trump's inconsistencies and Bolton's bluster. But a sound basis for Kim to mistrust the US goes back much farther back. Eisenhower encouraged Diem to renege on the Geneva Accords and the 1956 elections that would have brought Ho Chi Minh to power and avoided war in Viet Nam. Kennedy, Johnston, Nixon (and Kissinger) gave the finger to world opinion by waging an insane and cruel ideological war against the communist shibboleth in Viet Nam, all the time lying to the world and their own people. Reagan bargained hostages and arms (with Iran!) to defeat a small peasant communist regime in Nicaragua, breaking his word and US law in the bargain. Saddam gets rid of WMD in Iraq, yet Bush/Cheney invade anyway, contrary to the UN Charter and the carefully considered views of many of their allies (and Saddam and his family were killed). So when Trump reneges on the Iran deal (and the Paris Accords, TPP, and NAFTA), and when cock-sure ideological "experts" like Bolton are determining policy, this is nothing new. Out of one side of his mouth Trump says he is willing talk. But then he approves war games three weeks before peace talks. With this long history what message should Kim take away?
3
The Art of the Deal? More like The Art of the Schlemiel. And that Nobel Peace Prize was so close, SO CLOSE!
1
I'm disliking this site more and more every day although I've been a loyal NYT reader for over 50 years. It's not the content, it's the annoyance of the front page being obscured by the NYT masthead. One has to scroll down past it then back up in order to read the content. What's the point of this? We know which site we're at.
Please, please stop this. I find myself returning to your site less and less during the day thanks to its ridiculous behavior.
STOP IT!!!
And all the flashing stuff is distracting and probably dangerous for some people to look at.
1
Kim would be stupid to give up nukes with an untrusrworthy guy like Trump as president. Him breaching the Iran agreement certainly dors not help anybody to trust the US.
In the one corner, a monarchial leader raised from birth to be even more ruthless as any of the Plantagenets (uncles are preemptively dispatched) and in the other corner our porn star chasing motel assistant manager.
1
What a mess.
Again.
Who knew world peace could be so hard ?
Where's that Kellyanne ?
We could sure use some alternative facts !
2
So, how much money do we have to throw at Rkt Man this time, since his Sabre rattling is louder?
I'd feel safer if NK kept noodling with nuclear weapons and Trump kept his mouth shut.
North Korea is up to their old tricks again. Any student of modern history you would realize this, but unfortunately Trump is a dummy. Don the con is getting played
Do any commenters know anything about negotiation?
N Korea is hoping Trump would fall for their silly bluff, just has Obama caved in to Iran.
Holding a royal flush, Trump is ignoring them. As he should.
I don’t like Trump, but he’s a much better negotiator than the last five Presidents, who were played for international chumps and needlessly gave everything away.
4
I am curious: what is your basis for saying that Trump is a good negotiator, either generally in his business life, or more pertinently as President? As President, I see someone who has torn up a lot of agreements (TPP, NAFTA, Paris Climate accord, Iran) but has not yet got anything to replace them. Even if some or all of these should have been torn up, doing so does not make him a negotiator at all, much less a good one.
9
"N Korea is hoping Trump would fall for their silly bluff, just has Obama caved in to Iran."
The P5+1 negotiated the JCPOA.
Not President Obama.
1
There is really no chance to negotiate anything, Trump can't be trusted, the United States can't be trusted, see Iraq and Libya, just to name 2. Next, he wants unconditional surrender, NK to give up the only defense they have, the nuclear missiles, and get nothing in return, Trump will not give up one of the hundreds of nuclear weapons the US has.
The US has invaded NK in the past, killed millions of people and bombed the country to oblivion. NK has not and can not invade the US. Trump is a rogue president and the Koreans know it, so do the Chinese and SK.
What has NK done to be sanctioned? Are the sanctions for having built their army up?
2
It’s true that it was “Kim, not Mr. Trump, had sought the meeting.” But Trump said on May 1, 2017 that he would be “honoured” to meet with Kim Jong-un “under the right circumstances.” When Kim proposed such a meeting through the two South Koran envoys on March 8, Trump immediately accepted it.
Teem with excitement he has been looking forward to meeting Kim, boasting about his Nixon-moment. If the meeting is called off, Trum will be humiliated. Who knows what he would do, he threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea before the UN Assembly last September.
5
The NK goal is a non-agression pact ratified by congress followed by a gradual troop reductionnof US forces in Korea. Kim knows that Obama was able to tear up Bush agreements, and Trump did the same because neither was ratiified by congress.
3
Trump just got played like a fiddle. Now he's in the position of seeming to trash the summit because he won't budge. And to think the future of our country is in this man's (small) hands...
14
Singapore is a long, long way from Pyongyang. If, by chance, Kim’s plane developed engine trouble and he had to land somewhere, we should have Delta Force ready. They would cheerfully escort Kim to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he could explain to the world the finer workings of his death camps.
4
You forgot that the US doesn’t recognise the court in The Hague. Otherwise, they’d have to deliver Rumsfeld, Chaney and Bush first.
2
There's a true diplomatic stance: 'Doesn't matter if we have the meeting, or don't have the meeting. We're wishy-washy about the whole thing.'
Great message of strength...Sheesh......
15
Respectfully, doesn't seem Secy Sanders is being quoted when the article says "...that Mr. Trump would be fine if [the meeting]...did not [take place]..." The Washington Times quotes her as having said "...And if it doesn’t, we’ll see what happens...”
Not sure whether the difference is important but PT often concludes responses with "...we’ll see what happens..." That's different however - at least denotatively - from "I'll be fine" or "it will be fine."
The difference is unaffected by whether or not someone can reliably report what it means for PT to be "fine," however defined.
Secy Sanders is also quoted in the article as having said “And if it doesn’t, we will continue the maximum pressure campaign that has been ongoing.” But that, too, is different from "...PT/it will be fine."
How often have the prognosticators of policymakers’ words and deeds-representing a diverse range of types of analysts and media reps-been “right on,” erred, or even been irrelevant in their judgements, to more immediate as well as longer term outcomes? How often have the policymaker’s words and deeds, through whatever processes and whatever their final outcomes, been learned from? Or not!What are our options, each of US, in our various roles, ways of coping, adapting and functioning,within ranges of interacting systems and networks, for discerning as accurately as possible, as we move from becoming aware of a targeted event/person (“data”), to getting to “know” (generalizable information), to creating necessary levels and qualities of understanding-even usable insights-for harnessing media’s “prophetic” outputs as tools helpful for our daily well being?Today it’s Kim.Yesterday it was Bibi.Everyday is “Trump-day.”Somedays,Saddam.Pence. Names of people whom we know so little about in terms of their qualities and levels of awareness .Expectations. Perceptions.Thinking.Feeling.Judgmental and decision making processes.Which are, as for all of us, complex, dynamic and multidimensional. Learned from.Or not.Repeated as a Pavlovian response or planned, carried out and assessed.All of this being influenced by ongoing realities of uncertaintues.Unpredictabilities.Randomness. Lack of total control, no matter Types, qualities and levels of our doings.SO, S/HE said. Did. Didn’t.Now what?
Welcome to Korean reality. What Un is saying is we can work with South Korea and other Asian nations to solve our problems. We aren't the droid nations you are looking for.
You can go about your MAGA business, isolating the US from the rest of the world with tariffs and taxes.
3
Awesome. We’ll stop paying our annual dues then, like most other nations, and you guys can go fund yourselves. Go solve the genocides and epidemics without Uncle Sam. Considering you misspelled “Earth,” I’ll keep my expectations low.
Looks like classic hard cop (Bolton), soft cop (Pompeo) to me.
"You can't trust imperialism. Not one iota."--Che Guevara, 1964
4
"White House Brushes Aside North Korea’s Threats to Cancel Summit With Trump"
Yeah, Sarah, just brush aside those 'ol threats to cancel the Grand Summit between the two biggest dictators, otherwise known as "The Competition for "Worst Hair."
Just brush aside those threats, like you brush aside everything that does not suit the usual daily lies that emanate from the White House. Brush aside the truth, the lies, the facts and the non-facts. Brush it ALL aside. After all, in today's America, who needs sane, rational, accurate information from the People's House, when we have you—Sarah "Huckster" Sanders—to rely on?
8
Tut tut my good man - if necessary trump will meet with himself.
8
Heck. He may even meet with Mueller.
Is there a reason why the U.S. and S. Korea are continuing to conduct military exercises, ahead of the scheduled negotiations. If it's not necessary, then wouldn't that be incredibly disingenuous and stupid on our part?! Isn't the ongoing threat of these part of what motivates N. Korea's defensive stance.
And Mr. Bolton puts forth Libya as a model. I am not well-informed about this, but my impression was that Qaddafi agreed to give up their chemical weapons program, and is now DEAD! Did the U.S. somehow engineer that as a result of Qaddafi's agreement?
And now, we've pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, after having committed to it.
So, how should the U.S. be considered an honest broker?
6
It is not the slightest surprise that the Koreans are skeptical of the proposed meeting.
That is because Trump has demonstrated, repeatedly and deliberately , that his words and commitments are absolutely worthless. Anyone can now confidently expect that they should put no confidence in whatever agreements Trump enters into.
Trump is now living with the consequences of his lifetime of LIES and his visceral obsession with destroying Barack Obama's achievements. Namely, nothing he says can be accepted at face value. He has demolished his personal credibility and is quickly doing the same to the credibility of our government.
(What is frustrating is that most Americans could see this coming. We never wanted Trump, did not vote for him, and at this point, want him gone. What is maddening is that his destructive power-trip is abetted by Republican lawmakers - even though it is clear that he is a prolific LIAR and a lawbreaker.)
Look for things to get worse in the Koreas as Trump continues to abuse his presidential power, meeting or not.
4
If Obama had actually achieved anything, then no one would be able to destroy it. You can bypass Congress for short term gain, but then the long term is left to the discretion of your successor. That’s how our system works.
It's not a negotiation Mr. Trump. It's called international diplomacy. Maybe you should have hired some staff that had some experience in that.
13
everyone knew it would happen. it's Kim's m.o. trump knew this but how could he not follow thru just in case. and this is kim trying to feel trump out. the one thing trump does know how to do is negotiate from strength. we will see what happens when kim realizes trump is not just a typical soft western leader always looking for the soft compromise.
1
Trump negotiates from a position of strength? LOL. You people are hopeless.
2
The deal maker is getting punked by the king of Gangnam style. Strange days indeed.
10
We elected the loudmouth in the corner bar to lead us. North Korea? Iran? Gaza? Immigration? Healthcare? The flashy dresser with the big car has a quick solution for every problem and a cheap insult to anyone who disagrees. He orders occasional rounds for the house but expects someone else to pick up the tab. He's always ready to step outside to settle an argument, but then manages to slip away before he gets hurt. People who are frustrated with their own lives find his boasts immensely attractive. They envy him. Intellect? Experience? Wisdom? Common decency? Integrity? Who wants that? Most assuredly, not the GOP.
10
Trump's proposed meeting with Kim is a lot like his proposed meeting with Mueller. He says he would be happy to meet, he is actually afraid to meet, his advisers are concerned that he is not smart enough to meet.
8
There once was a ghoul named Kim Jong-un
Whose brutality is second to none
Will he surrender his nuclear arms?
As he promotes an offensive of charms
Or is this another fake out rerun
Kim’s up against Dear Leader Trump
Who Kim views as a conceited chump
As Trump claims the Nobel
And the deal goes to Hell
It was a sour deal he barks on the stump
This failed deal was a mighty blow
To the master of the reality show
It wasn’t really my fault
That negotiations came to a halt
That’s why I’m firing Pompeo
2
No one should have expected that negotiating with North Korea would be easy. Although I am no fan of Trump, I believe that he is a more adept negotiator than most, and the least likely to be taken in by any false promises or manipulations.
2
What on earth gives you the idea that he's adept at anything?
1
Dude ... he was ALREADY taken in.
1
Let us hope that the summit is postponed for a few years. That can give Trump plenty of time to make amends to everyone he has insulted in our intelligence and diplomatic community. Hopefully they will all forgive him if he does apologize (unlikely) and meticulously prepare him with cue cards summarizing 70 years of history and complex geopolitical relationships with North Korea. They can follow the example of the prep given to Sarah Palin before her vice presidential debate, albeit with less time given he is a self-proclaimed genius.
4
The sad thing is that Trump's supporters continue to insist against all evidence that Trump has achieved something uniquely historic, that Trump (not Kim) has scored a big win by agreeing to the upcoming summit, and that he has already convinced Kim to make meaningful concessions. To paraphrase Daniel Moynihan, I guess Trumpkins are entitled to their own opinions... and their own facts.
6
will he have to give back the nobel peace prize if the summit is cancelled?
6
Can we stop mentioning the Nobel Peace Prize? Never in a million years would ANYBODY associated with the organization have considered Trump for anything. Trump is the antithesis of everything the Nobel organization stands for. He was "nominated" by a letter from a few of his sycophantic lackey R's. Any normal person could see the complete farce of it all, and it's disgusting to see the idea keep getting talked about.
15
From what I see the comments here are sarcastic and ironic and some are funny. As you note nobody but the most deluded deplorable, and that includes the Republicans in Congress, would have any serious expectation that Trump,would get anything but a Berlusconi Pizza Prize for being the biggest fool leading a major country and making Berlusconi look good.
The recent step backward by North Korea is in line with their historical practices. They seemingly offer a compromise and just before the ink dries, they start to move backward, trying to draw the other side in, in order to keep a treaty or pact intact. Add John Bolton to the mix and it is a free-for-all just waiting to happen.
5
It's not like there were any experts around who could have told Trump this, I guess.
4
Let's hope Mr. Trump isn't so desperate for a Nobel Prize that he comes home with a half baked agreement.
you mean like the iran nuclear agreement?
That was signed and ratified by a number of our European allies. Their businesses will benefit from it. They will find a way around Trump that is necessary. A whole lot more thought went into that agreement than went in to this meeting with Kim. And it is only a preliminary meeting, not a negotiation. I imagine Trump will send Kushner to fine tune the actual negotiations.
But really, what does North Korea gain by doing a sudden about face?
Bolton, is certainly the biggest and meanest bottom feeding hater in the Trump administration. Pompeo is just another yes man to Trump, and Mattis should know better than to go along with Trump's pontificating and strutting. North Korea is playing Trump for the fool and the clown that he really is. Give it up Trump, you're way out of your league. Stick to robbing the country blind.
7
Kim is holding all the Trumps. Pun intended. It was foreseeable - but obviously not for #45. That’s what you get for letting a amateur run a country.
6
everyone knew it would happen. it's Kim's m.o. trump knew this but how could he not follow thru just in case. and this is kim trying to feel trump out. the one thing trump does know how to do is negotiate from strength. we will see what happens when kim realizes trump is not just a typical soft western leader always looking for the soft compromise.
So why should Kim trust us after the Iran debacle? And loose-lipped Bolton is a joke, a caricature of a crazy ideologue, who wants to toss bombs into any diplomacy. This has to be a slow step-by-step rapprochement, where each side makes good faith efforts to guarantee security as well as 'denuclearize'. If we want the PRK to just dismantle everything right away, you can just kiss that Nobel Prize goodbye!
37
If North Korea doesn't just dismantle everything right away, then they can just take what they want and then walk away. Would they do that? Sure. They have before.
Donald Trump is no novice at this. After all, he wrote the book on The Art of the Deal over 30 years ago. He knows there is a deal to be made here. Kim Jong Un gives up his nuclear weapons. The United States and South Korea help make his country prosperous.
Kim Jong Un needs to decide which way he wants to go. Back to the past or forward to the future. I'll bet he chooses the future. But no one knows what he will do. Maybe not even him.
what kim learned from the iran deal is that trump is not willing to accept soft one sided agreements that other western leaders are happy to make either for their legacy or to just have something in place. Kim's threat is a test of trumps resolve. and of course trump and every other person on the planet with the slightest modicum of intelligence knew this was the next step. now we will see what happens when kim realizes trump will not give in and accept something he doesn't think is in our best interest.
1
I can't imagine any comment more stupid than Bolton's suggestion that NK follow "the Libyan example".
We are in deep danger with this anti diplomacy warmonger advising the president!
3
Kim has taken several concrete and significant steps towards the goal of denuclearization of Korea. I haven't heard of any such steps taken by the US. Do the Trump people really think they can get Kim to agree to get rid of his nuclear weapons while the US keeps them in South Korea? Surely not, so what game are the Trump people playing? Surely not a buildup to a hot war!
2
Recently, it was reported Trump, in anticipation of a peace treaty, asked the pentagon to brainstorm ideas about USA troop reduction in South Korea. Unfortunately, Trump denies such, as it might have shown a little forward thinking. A year ago, Pompeo said regime change may be needed for peace with NK. Now he sings a different tune. White House flip flopping is seen too often to really believe new stances.
Trump keeps discussing desired regime changes in Syria and Iran, and makes war with Iran easier by scrapping the Iran Deal.
Bolton discusses Libya as the model for North Korea to reap the benefits of de-arming, when everyone and their mother knows Libya is exactly what Mr. Kim fears.
Mr. Kim provides 2 acts of conciliation prior to the meeting, and Trump/Moon continue with aggressive war drills.
Could the diplomacy of this administration be any clumsier?
What really is being offered to North Korea for potential loss of power, increased vulnerability, loss of standing, regime change and future subservience to others?
In simple terms, the Trump administration is offering North Korea money. We know money drives Trump, and he must believe everyone has a price.
That belief is just another example of the tone deafness of these negotiations.
I'm willing to bet there isn't enough money to pry Mr. Kim from his new stature as a nuclear power. I hope there's a plan B being considered.
5
Bolton has been clear for the last several decades: there can be no negotiation with evil. It must surrender or be crushed. If North Korea and Iran don’t unconditionally surrender and accept an American installed government, then it must be war to create that outcome. He’s never wavered from this view. Negotiations only delay the inevitable war. Pompeo and Mattis will probably resign, but we will have war.
3
Oh yes, the war option has worked so tremendously well in the past - in Vietnam, in Korea, in Iraq. Time to grow up.
8
Get your uniform ready Mr., as you will be first in line to battle!
It is fair to say that there is definitely something greater going on then Trump and the world. It seems to be blatantly apparent that Putin himself is the "mastermind" behind North Korea, Iran, Syria and Palestine. Experts predicted that it would take years for North Korea ti develop a nuclear program, it took them months, months to develop the weapons that Russia had years ago. therefore it can be stated that there us definitely a connection between Putin and north Korea, which could have something to do with Kim Jung Un pulling out of the Summit. After all the Soviet Union did advise North Korea to invade the south and start the Korean war.
1
Trump shrugs and says he would be fine if there´s no meeting.
Really? He boasted foolishly in his last rally that he would be granted a nobel peace prize! Once again we are reminded that we have a tragically unprepared and dangerously unprincipled ‘fake’ president who is an unabashed leech and an unrepentant liar
15
"White House Brushes Aside North Korea’s Threats to Cancel Summit With Trump."
That will give the Chinese the right idea about any talks!
2
This is the result of an administration that has no leadership at the top to direct its policy. Mr. Bolton and Mr. Pompeo are not dancing to the same music because the conductor doesn't know what the right music is. The president wants to bully the north into total capitulation. However, Un is a dictator who needs his weapons to remain in power. Did anyone other than the president think that he would gladly give up his nuclear arsenal? Un became embolden this weekend when the president gave in to the Chinese and ZTE. He has also given into the Israelis by moving the American Embassy and getting out to the Iranian deal. When you aren't consistent in your positions this is what happens.
2
Why did Trump allow John Bolton to derail the talks by declaring the necessary conclusions of the talk. Oh, I forgot, there is no Trump strategy. Goodbye Nobel Peace Prize.
3
I'm very disappointed with the NYT headline saying this is simply true to form for Kim. What Bolton & Co. is demanding is unconditional surrender, and just after the US tears up the Iran agreement. Kim is not stupid and is simply taking heed of these obvious moves. True to form for American policy, I'm afraid.
7
When North and South Korea got together during the Olympics and and resolved their issues, that was too close a call for the US, who opposes peace, whenever it rears its head across this World.
4
The only one surprised by this is Trump and his inept staff.
10
Didn't see that one coming.
1
I assume you're joking.
“We’ll have to see.”
This pretty much sums up Trump’s intellectual capacity.
Excepting, of course, the self-dealing and personal enrichment at the expense of the American people, upon which plans have been made, checks have been cashed, and cover-ups have been green lit.
But the threat of a nuclear war?
“We’ll have to see.”
Unspoken lines: Can I profit from this?Will this make me look good? Is there a workable spin on this that I can parrot on Fox news and on my next rally?
So much winning, folks! So much winning!
6
How do you fool President Trump? Simple, just talk to him.
4
So Trump basking in the glory of getting NK to a summit with hints of a Nobel peace prize gushingly referred to Kim as "honourable" Well hopefully he's learning there is nothing honourable about a dictator who simply couldn't care less how excited you are about meeting him. His job is to look strong and maintain a firm grip on power which Kim has just done by stating no deal until I'm told what's in this for me?
2
if we were serious about better relations, why in god's name did we schedule military exercises? of course north Korea is ticked off.
2
Kim Jong-un acts like "Lucy" and pulls the football away. Trump lands on his back.
Bye bye Nobel Peace Prize (Trump wasn't going to get it anyway)
So much winning!
5
Trump's questionable deal-making prowess always relied on his having more money, more lawyers, and fewer morals than his hapless suppliers. On a level playing field where neither side can afford a nuclear war, he's not even a water boy, much less a player.
2
I am surprised that the man in the White House has not stuck his foot in his mouth yet. He gets rid of McMasters and get Bolton who has foot in mouth disease and will get us all in another bind again. Why would this White House be surprised at this because he does not read history and see that this is almost by the North Korean playbook as matter of fact he doesn't read at all even his security updates so what else can we expect from the future Nobel Prize winner.
2
Only Bolton would be so tone deaf as to suggest that North Korea should go the way of Libya, which descended into chaos and revolution after defenestrating its dictator. I'm sure that went over well in Pyongyang, where Bolton is seen as having the negotiating savvy of a Joseph Stalin.
6
I don't think Bolton was tone deaf. He knew exactly what he was doing by making this comparison to Libya. It was his torpedo fired at the summit. What's concerning is the thought that Trump may not realize that his new national security adviser torpedoed the potential deal.
Was Trump trying to get out of the thing, or was he sabotaged by a subordinate without even realizing it? In either event, we can all agree that positing Libya as an example was guaranteed to inflame the N Koreans. I'm surprised it took several news cycles to happen.
2
Trump planned to milk this up to the mid-terms. He couldn't even make it through May.
6
You know the saying, "it takes a thief to catch a their"? Maybe, "it takes a huckster to deal with a huckster". Sincerity, honesty, conviction are not part of the Kim Jong-Un's world view. Perhaps we DID find the right person in Trump to deal with him....
Kim should insist that Trump give up his Twitter account as a condition for peaceful cooperation.
Then, he can sit back and wait for Trump to cancel the summit.
6
Talk is just talk. What matters is action.
When it comes right down to it, Kim Jong Un will have to choose between his bombs and his economy. Which will he choose? Probably even he doesn't know.
If he chooses his bombs, that's a dead end. The trouble with nuclear weapons is that you can threaten with them but you can't use them.
If he chooses his economy, that's promising. We (the United States and South Korea) will pay a lot for peace. Unlike Iran, North Korea does not have to give up its aggression to get benefits.
What will happen with North Korea? Like Donald Trump always says, "We'll see." The best negotiators keep an open mind and don't worry about planning out too many moves in advance. And Donald Trump is a good negotiator.
And why worry about Robert Mueller or Stormy Daniels? The scandalmongers who bring up that sort of thing as a political ploy ought to be ashamed of themselves. They are clickbait from media (shame on you too, New York Times), but are meaningless compared to the real issues we face.
1
John Bolton may use the Libyan deal to dismantle its nukes program as a model for Kim Jong Un, but look what happened to Qaddafi: the NATO-led intervention in 2011 not only brought regime change but his death in a sewer. Today, the world is still feeling the repercussions from the intervention led by France, US & UK in Libya as Libya is totally destabilized, the source of hundreds of African migrants' deaths and detention and weapons awash in the Sahel region & thus more instability.
Did Bolton mention that downside?
4
Bolton's comment re Libya is instructive for any other national leader who might entertain working out a deal with the U.S. Khadaffi was overthrown and murdered and his country is now a disaster.
4
What a surprise this is, said no one ever!
2
If Trump met face to face with Kim Jung-un he would blow any chance of an agreement as he lacks diplomacy and negotiating skills.
3
Who ya gonna believe, Kim or Trump? Neither one can be trusted to keep his word - before or after a deal is signed.
Pompeo and Bolton are doing classic good cop bad cop. Problem is they report to a guy who takes both roles and they're negotiating with another guy who can alternate between them at will.
So the press reports and Trump crows about mere words, when only actions make a difference.
Bolton says that the nuclear agreement must be in the molds of Libya. Where’s Kadhafi today? Kim Jong Un doesn’t want want to die just yet.
5
If you ever wondered what the world would look like in the absence of American leadership, now you know....
8
Who on Earth would make a deal with the US with the likelihood that it would be broken. Who in his/her right mind would sit down at the table while military are practicing to invade you hundreds of miles away?
2
Remember last week, when Trump was trying really hard to pretend not saying himself that he deserved the Noble Peace Price for all of this?
1
Why does this feel like the build-up to a pay-per-view boxing match? Can we Trump and Kim to have a weigh-in with them both wearing undies? Remember, the World Wrestling Entertainment Company has many people in Washington. Sell, sell, sell and get the biggest audience possible. There is no doubt this meeting will happen. The entire world will watch. And Trump and mcmahon (WWE) will be able to sell one billion T-shirts.
“The president is ready if the meeting takes place,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News. “And if it doesn’t, we will continue the maximum pressure campaign that has been ongoing.”
Ooops! Sarah just gave away the American campaign strategy to our enemy!
4
Was it a secret?
"In a recent television interview, Mr. Bolton said the precedent for the North Korea negotiations should be Libya, which agreed to box up its entire nuclear program and ship it out of the country." Bolton's kidding, right? That didn't work out so well for Gadaffi. Bolton's idea that the US can bully everyone on the globe is straight out of 1900.
13
trumpie and "Bad News" Bolton have no chance against the smarter, more focused Kim and China's Xi. But that works out well for Bolton who has been trying to start World War III for 30 years.
Maybe this time he'll succeed?
5
We know this much for certain, anything Sarah Sanders tells us can never be believed, ever.
She is a world-class liar just like her boss.
I think most Americans saw this coming when the Trump administration began lying non-stop on Inauguration Day...that the White House couldn't be trusted to be honest when a global crisis developed and there would be a credibility problem.
We are there today.
12
If you were head of any country, raise your hand if you would enter into any kind of agreement with Donald Trump and John Bolton.
Kim appears to be amusing himself by playing a little poke-your-finger-in-the-eye, Trump-style "diplomacy.' Wonder how Trump likes being on the receiving end?
9
This is a win-win for the Trump Mob: if the meeting -- the "summit" -- takes place, a photo-op will constitute a resounding success and a gift of peace and prosperity to the whole world. (Not sure if the Nobel Prize will follow, but who cares what those foreigners think anyway.) If it's a no-go, then Trump can revert to having hung tough and attempting to accomplish something that no other president (including that guy who wasn't born in the US and wasn't really president anyway) has done: trying to get your picture taken with a murderous Korean tyrant.
Bolton is always interesting. He lays out the Libya strategy for Kim -- give up your nukes and we'll kill you -- which will certainly yield a big win on the NK foreign policy front. Pompeo is more of a grifter (aka Republican): he'll just pay-off Kim in the back room which is a more traditional US approach to foreign policy and "relationships" -- everything and everyone has a price.
4
Well, maybe Trump can still be a runner-up for that Nobel Peace Prize...
Little Rocket Man 1 - Stable Genius 0
18
The con artist gets conned. Karma.
4
Two incompetent and unpredictable nitwits, each with no long-term strategy, blustering at each other.
I'll start paying attention when they're actually sitting at the table.
2
Will be difficult to negotiate. The Trump administration sends different signals everyday. And even if the USA and NK agree, Trump may change his mind anyway. I'm sure NK fears the fate that befell Libya and Iraq after playing nice with the USA, even more so under this president.
2
Would someone please alert the Nobel committee to hold off on Trump's Peace Prize?
3
At some point, Kim Jong-Un will call trump’s bluff on the “maximum pressure campaign” to which trump so proudly struts. Although admittedly, trump is an empty suit who typically blinks first; e.g., ZTE and trump: Makin' China Great Again! More jobs for China!
7
Why is Bolton going on Sunday morning talk shows during this volatile time? One blurb about the "Libya model" has sent North Korea spinning in rage. No wonder: look what happened to Gaddafi. The Trump administration needs to baton down the hatches, turn off the tweets, limit the talk show banter about NK and only release highly vetted responses. Loose lips Bolton just threw the whole negotiation into question. He should be fired. Libya model? How stupid to say!
9
What do you expect from the shoot first then second then 3rd bunch of amateur know it alls?
2
Trump is being played like a cheap fiddle by a two-bit dictator.
7
So much for Trump's (pre-emptive) Nobel Prize!
2
Let’s take a look from North Korean side: They could see on their radars whole bunch of aircrafts flying all over the place like a hornets nest from the US South Korean Air Force drills. And North Koreans have no means to defend herself.
1. You tell me why wouldn’t North Koreans not feeling nervous?
2. You tell me why wouldn’t Kim feel threatened by flying all the way to Singapore for the summit?
3. If there is a summit, it wouldn’t be at Singapore but at friendly sky Beijing.
4
NK doesn’t have any working aircraft. Kim takes a train to Singapore.
Expect this to keep happening, Kim Jong-un acting out and threatening to cancel the meetings at every turn because he just wants attention and has no intention of giving up anything. It may get as far as an actual meeting so he can feel important with the American president 'paying homage', then no agreement and using that as a pretext for more bellicose behavior. North Korea's stated 'rationale' for seeking and having nuclear weapons is to keep the U.S. from invading, but the U.S. has been 'not invading' for the past 60 years since the truce, so that 'rationale' makes no sense. It is their behavior that brings scrutiny and is the reason for the U.S. and S. Korea joint maneuvers, which N. Korea then uses as justification for 'outrage!' and arming up more and acting bellicose (sinking a S. Korean vessel a few years back). Same movie, different actors.
I find it unbelievable that Bolton brought up the Libya example. That is exactly what Kim Jong-un fears: if Jong-un gives up his nuclear weapons, America will then come in to overthrow him, and kill him.
5
There is a huge tinge of racism in all these negotiations of the past and present. Just shake the other guy down and take away his stuff; don't bother to hold your word; complain when the other guy changes moves though in a defensive way; use the readily available media to cover your tracks. Folks this is History as practiced by Alexander in 300 BC to Trump in 2018 AD. This is called World to Order, not World Order.
2
Trump has said he doesn't need diplomats because he knows more about foreign policy than anyone & in the end the only policy that matters is his. He knows more than the generals, more than the CIA, the FBI, more than any politicians. Don't know how he plans on winning when he knows nothing. Of course, Sean is whispering in his ear at night (subliminal mind control) & Bolton is pushing for total destruction of all foreign countries. Kim Jung Un knows a lot more than Trump. He has been playing the game longer.
9
Kim Jong-un was ;persuaded by his staff that he should not meet with a pathological liar who specializes in kicking in the teeth of everyone luckless enough to cross his path. The recent repudiation of the Iran nuclear agreement demonstrates beyond cavil that Trump's word -- America's word -- cannot be trusted by anyone, large or small: construction contractors, real estate developers, diplomats, heads of state, dictators.
7
Obviously, Kim read "The Art of the Deal."
5
"People close to the White House said the uncoordinated nature of the statements reflected the newness of the president’s national security team, but also the fact that Mr. Trump was distracted by the swirl of legal issues around him..."
Yup, Mr. President can't chew gum and walk at the same time.
8
"Mr. Bolton said the precedent for the North Korea negotiations should be Libya" Seriously? He is telling North Korea that they should follow the precedent of a leader who was overthrown and murdered, and whose body was displayed for days in his former capital? Bolton once again confirms he knows nothing about diplomacy. His idea of negotiations is telling the other side what to do.
6
John Bolton is an unqualified radical right wing advisor, advising a mercurial amateur. Having a full scale WW3 type war games just prior the Trump's meeting with Kim seems a big error. Trump's demand that N Korea disarm their nuke arsenal would appear too provocative for the N. Koreans to accept. I guess Trump's Nobel Peace Prize will have to wait.
5
The best way to handle this is to propose a world wide nuclear disarmament treaty and have all the nuclear powers sign on to this including the US and Russia. The goal being to denuclearize the world and not just one specific country.
4
Gorbachev tried the US laughed him out of the country.
1
Looks like diplomacy via belligerent tweet and amateur sledgehammer doesn't work much better than all those professional weaklings in the administrations who preceded Captain Chaos.
Who knew dealing with North Korea could be so hard?
11
if the United States would just stay out of the negotiations, North and South Korea might find common ground.
11
Trump doesn’t read, he doesn’t pay attention to briefings. So what will he negotiate with Kim? Trump Tower Pyongyang?
16
And golf resort complete with trump towels trump soap trump steaks.....
3
Time to play devil's advocate. Yes, Trump is the worst America has ever had, but to be fair, has he done any worse vis-vis North Korea than any of his predecessors?
2
Yes, in that he has legitimized N. Korea as something more than a rogue nation.
12
Are you serious. You actually believe Trump is going to get something substantive done in North Korea? Look at Trumps actions, they are all reflective not planned. The North Koreans are leading him on and will embarrass him then what. Does this look like it’s going well to you?
2
Is your question really an honest one (and not just a potential joke for late night?) If so, wait and see! Pretty certain we all soon will. Also pretty certain the answer (to your hard-to-really-take-honest question) will be: YES!!!
2
North Korea exploiting a gap in messaging, shifting stances, newness of national security team, distracted by legal issues, etc… Too bad we’re talking about North Korea and nuclear weapons.
The nexus of these issues is President Trump and his lack of qualifications to be president. He is full of hubris and ignorant of history, allowed his State Department to be gutted, and doesn’t even have an ambassador to South Korea.
Sarah Sanders said the White House was not caught off guard and fully expected a reversal, but one could not tell that from the president prematurely accepting a Nobel Peace prize.
19
And we all know how reliable Sarah's statements are.
7
Though the North Koreans would be fools to trust us, we could, as a sign of good will, call of the military maneuvers . Meanwhile, peace between North and South Korea will likely proceed with the assistance and infrastructure support of Russia and China with or without the theater of US involvement and approval.
1
North Korea is too smart to believe it can deal seriously with a country in which trump is the leader. Trump has shown he will renege on his word just as he has on everything else he did. He only paid his bills when he dealt with the Mafia unions in the NYC construction business. Oh yes, they were always paid in full.
12
Not EVERYTHING is Trump...
Saddam fell and died after giving up WMDs, as did Gaddafi in Libya
both well before Trump had anything to do with it.
Little Rocket Man would be a fool to fall for the same trick
2
Some consideration should be given to the possibility that embarrassing Trump (or worse) was the NK plan all along. Kim's behavior has seemed significantly out of character these past few months. Why such a turnaround? (I never bought the argument that it was Trump's bluster.)
I'd like to think there is still a chance to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, but I fear that Kim just dangled that as bait for a narcissistic administration looking to crow about a win... and doing it too soon.
Let's hope I'm wrong.
4
More likely the "hidden plan" is to separate South Korea from the USA. Divide and conquer.
Kim is playing Trump. As they say, in a battle of wits, Trump is defenseless.
12
John Bolton will either learn to bend to Trump's will or his tenure will be short lived. Bolton mistakenly believes that now is his chance to shine, and to promote, and direct foreign policy, based on his sense of the United States place/role in in the world. Wrong. His job is to make Trump look good, so that Trump can brag that he is winning and everyone else is a loser. That is the ultimate objective, not some finely tuned and nuanced approach to managing complicated international relations. If Bolton does not make necessary course adjustments, and the summit collapses, he will be gone.
4
It is regrettable that we got out-maneuvered by North Korea-- basically they have created a lose-lose situation for the United States. North Korea is nothing but an excuse for us to have a strong military presence order to check China. There can be no peace agreement that does not include the 2nd Infantry Division leaving the peninsula, since their presence would be unjustified, unless their presence is explicitly meant contain Chinese influence...
On the World diplomatic stage, if North Koreans put on the table a deal that includes denuclearizing and peace but falls apart because the United States refuses to leave the peninsula then the U.S. will get the blame and will (further) lose credibility as peace maker on the World Stage. It might also create issues with the South Koreans, since they will probably start seeing us a liability
2
Who knew negotiating with North Korea could be so complicated?
9
So Trump’s diplomatic errors can be blamed on the “distraction” of his legal issues? If he’s such a great leader, as he’s always reminding us, surely he should be able to rise above it.
7
If I had a meeting with Kim, I would definitely buy the trip cancelation insurance.
4
i'm having open heart surgery on june 12. someone wake me when this is all over.
6
"White House Brushes Aside North Korea’s Threats to Cancel..."
Mr. Trump is such an extraordinary deal maker he's going to have the summit all by himself and declare North Korea "nuclear free." The sad part is, many of his supporters will believe him.
7
"....that Mr. Trump would be fine if it did not."
That's right .... The Donald doesn't really care either way if he can do anything about reducing the potential of the annihilation of millions, or worse... "what ever."
5
SURPRISE! SURPRISE!
This is this WH MO...deny, deny, then once a fact's confirmed, naiveté kicks in in full-force and point fingers/place blame on anyone but themselves when things go wrong.
I'm still betting this meeting will NOT happen! And if I'm wrong, I'm certain it will not happen on the wishy-washy date set!
2
Again Mr.Trump got caught in a whopper! He said that he and the honorable Mr.Kim could negotiate a historical nuclear arms treaty.His description of everything is hyperbole.He has huge tax cuts, a beautiful wall,and strong anti immigration policies.He thinks he is on a roll.In fact he may be rolled by the North Koreans who are recalcitrant and not suckers for happy talk.
2
"White House officials said they were taking North Korea’s latest warnings in stride, in part because Mr. Kim, not Mr. Trump, had sought the meeting."
If peace comes out of this, the WH just said that Mr. Kim, not Mr. Trump, should get the Nobel Peace Prize.
4
Trump was set up and played by a man less than half his age. Should be no problem for the man who perfected "The Art of the Deal," the presumptive recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, though, eh?
7
Well, let's hope Trump, Bolton and Pompeo can get their negotiating "facts straight" before they even get to the summit. It seems Mr. Kim is seeking to set some preconditions to the meeting and has not yet received a clear response as to what the Trump team really means by "denuclearization." Does only apply to North Korea or to the South Korea and the U.S. as well? And is it, as Bolton has stated, a precondition or not? We're now on "tweet alert."
7
Does anyone in their right mind believe that all of this is what it is?
North Korea is just trying to weather the storm that Trump is. They think he is unpredictable and that has put the fear in them. Their existence strategy is based on the predictability of the rest of the world. So they will play this "summit" thing and denuclearization game, slowly, and run out the clock on Trump.
8
Trump is completely predictable: flatter him and he'll cave on all sorts of things. Bribe him and he rolls over to have his belly rubbed. Talk tough with Trump and he fires off a few mean Tweets.
The world has figured Trump out, even if Americans are still baffled by him.
2
If some negotiations were to take place, I would have trouble imagining Mr. Trump involved with them.
How would one meaningfully negotiate knowing NOTHING about the two Koreas or the region; economic sanctions; diplomacy; history; military matters; negotiation tactics; nuclear energy and weaponry; etc.?
15
Trump is turning common sense on its ear. He walks away from the Iran deal which was keeping them contained and he engages North Korea, which through past experience tells us that there is no way they will give up the one card they have to play.
22
Trump's king-sized ego will be his downfall but we can't allow it to be ours.
3
Iran was not contained. They support Hamas, and have troops in Syria and Lebanon.
Is it possible that Kim is watching the Mid-East, especially the newest uprising, because Trump decided to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem, thus causing more havoc in the region?
Is it possible that the newest maneuvers in South Korea has given Kim reason to doubt Trump's sincerity.
It seems quite fashionable for our leaders to blame other countries when we don't get all we think we are entitled too.
Bolten should not be in charge. He is a war monger.
Trump has shown the world that the U.S. cannot be trusted to keep our word. So we should hardly be surprised that Kim is indicating the summit might not take place.
14
What can we possibly offer Kim that would make him give up his nukes? Pompeo said that the US would allow American companies to invest in North Korea. Oh, wow.
Kim has us where he wants us. Why would he change that?
2
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/north-korea-missile-test-us-1994-ag...
But on its own pledges, Washington failed to follow through.
The light-water reactors were never built. The US-led consortium tasked with constructing them was in severe debt; senators accused Clinton of understating their cost while overstating how much US allies would contribute to funding them. Hawkish Republicans in Congress derided the framework for supposedly rewarding aggressive behaviour.
Heavy fuel shipments were often delayed. Rust Deming, assistant secretary of state, told Congress that “to be frank, we have in past years not always met the fuel year deadline”. Meanwhile, Robert Gallucci, a diplomat who had negotiated the framework, warned that it could fail unless the US did “what it said it would do, which is to take responsibility for the delivery of the heavy fuel oil”.
North Korea was not removed from the state department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism until 2008, though it had long met the criteria for removal. A limited number of US sanctions were eased, but not until 2000 – six years later than pledged in the agreed framework. According to Gallucci, Congressional skepticism about the deal led to “the minimum interpretation of sanctions lifting”. As he told a congressional committee: “the North Koreans have always been disappointed that more has not been done by the US.”
1
Yes, the North Koreans are returning to their usual tricks, but would any country continue to negotiate with a counterparty who suggested the model for de-nuclearization would be Libya? Seriously?
14
This is just expected negotiating showmanship. It doesn't matter. The end game is China's: Kim's already been told that Korean unification will eventually get the Americans off another part of the Asian continent and that is China's goal. China is playing Go, not chess -- over decades and centuries. Look at our scope: today's news and Nobel prizes. Woohoo!
2
I have a feeling many readers here were hoping for this to happen.
Its pure hatred...while a " hate has no home here " sign sits out on the front lawn.
3
No, we have just been following this situation for a long time and can't believe Trump thought a few mean tweets would bring real results. Meanwhile, he hires John Bolton and pulls out of the Iran deal -- not exactly inspiring North Korea to roll over.
5
No. My hopes are pretty simple. I hope neither party blows anything up.
3
In other words, you are saying it is wrong to be intolerant toward those who demonstrate intolerance.
No one here is "hoping" for this to happen, we knew all along this would happen.
2
"People close to the White House said the uncoordinated nature of the statements"
And The Times knows this how?
Ever heard of "Good Cop/ Bad Cop"
Not an completely new concept. Hello?
1
Ok, what's he going to do? Show up in Singapore and there's no Kim-Jong-un?
NK has “played” Trump! Now he’s all focused on winning the Nobel Peace prize and Kim Jung Un can just keep turnig the screws of Trump’s gargantuan ego - forcing him into wanting to give more and more away, as Kim drives up the price for a prize totally out of reach - at least for Trump.
This is surely worth popping corn. As Trump’s own ego is traded for a mirage. When it comes to Trump that prize is NO ringing bell.
2
Trump could walk on water and there would be no Nobel prize for him. Trump is not agreeable to the Europeans who award it.
1
".. and Sweden? Have you heard about Sweden?"
The Nobel Price was founded by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor and tycoon. The Nobel comitée decides.
Anyway, I share your opinion.
Honestly, why would walking on water qualify DJT for a Nobel Prize? DJT is more than happy to accept accolades he hasn’t earned, even to the point of faking them for himself (the fake magazine covers he puts up in his buildings, for example). What interests me is why Republicans are so willing to blindly believe the wildest fictions about DJT - while completely ignoring facts. For example, I perused a few right wing news sites and found no coverage of DJTs extraordinary sudden concern for saving Chinese jobs, by easing American sanctions on ZTE. No coverage of China’s half billion dollar investment in an Indonesian development featuring Trump named properties, either. And certainly no unseemly notice of the cheek by jowl occurrence of both these events. If DJT deserves any award, it would have to be one for completely neutering the GOP into a spineless group of groveling sycophants.
Too many are taking this trump presidency too seriously. After all, HE's not. The only thing that interests the Trump family is doing deals to get the financing they need to do their projects and may the rest be damned. In the meantime, trump couldn't care less about what people think any more than what a slumlord cares.
19
Absolutely.
1
The Unilateral but abrupt announcement of dismantlement of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles program coupled with winding up of testing site indicates the " weakness" of Kim régime. Kim did not demand the withdrawal of US forces nor nuclear umbrella from South Korea. Nor Kim forced his counterpart, Moon to suspend joint military exercises at the time of Winter Olympics in February 2018.
China has,also accorded nod for reconciliation between two Korea's through which the rapprochement between Pyongyang and Washington may get acceleration.
While Pampeo promised compensation for complete denuclearization, John Bolton compared Kim and North Korea with Quaddafi of Lybia,and Saddam Hussein of Iraq. It underlines that after dismantle process is completed ,Kim and North Korea will meet the same fate.
Further Bolton has repeatedly said that " maximum" pressure paid rich dividends. Evem Trump also warned that he may seek " graceful exit" from the.planned summit on 12 June 2018 if talks are not along expected lines.
All these comments might have infuriated Kim regime to scrap summit with Trump.Seoul ,the lynchpin of rapprochement is worried about the threat and must take a lead to repair the damaged relations.
The China on its part advised NK to go ahead with summit for its own economic development.
Now it is time for the international community, particularly UN ,EU to put more pressure on US not to provoke beleaguered nation. The US will be blamed if summit fails.
3
The meeting will happen and there will be a peace treaty. This is just negotiation positioning. Each side flexing its ego.
If you all start reading every move in the process as critical, you will miss what will happen. Forget the introductory moves, as you would the first jabs in a boxing match.
It is the result-a draw in which each wins, that counts.
There will be no first jabs. At most,
they will touch gloves and leave the ring undefeated
This article reports quotes and perspectives from the United States, North Korea, and China, but it mostly ignores the clear and pointed statements North Korea has released in the past two days.
Regarding Mr. Bolton's position, North Korea has explained that it would be foolish to follow that example, which led to Qaddafi losing power and eventually being executed by rebels in Libya.
Regarding Mr. Pompeo's suggestion that immediate denuclearization of North Korea would be met with long-term economic investment and support, North Korea has said: (1) it rejects any bargain that equates economic opportunities with loss of military capabilities;
(2) that it is willing to trade stepping back from projections of military power for similar withdrawal of American and South Korean military activities and armaments threatening to North Korea; and,
(3) that it has studied Mr. Trump and found him to be a an unreasonable party to any agreement that is backed primarily by his word and discretion.
These are very rational and important positions that North Korea has articulated. Failing to focus on the clear intentions of North Korea adds to the drama of the story, but it does little to make sense of the disconnect between U.S. posturing and presumptions and the framework North Korea has described.
Mr. Trump accepted an invitation to meet without preconditions, only to present two very different preconceptions of the end game of the talks. Why is that not acknowledged as a reversal?
12
The media keeps evading a central premise: the already pitifully small DPRK economy was sent off the deep end by the UN Sanctions. Kim Jong-un made it abundantly clear that he didn't need his nuclear weapons if he could get his economy going.
Now we see hidden in sub-text that Pompeo is promising US investment in the DPRK if they give up nuclear weapons.
Talk about shaking hands with the devil.
2
Gee, does this mean the Noble Peace Prize is off the table now?
The only reason we pay any attention to them is their nuclear arsenal. How hard is that to understand?
As for the post WWII Marshall Plan approach to rebuilding North Korea? Trump Mob has and are doing their very best to destroy that treaty based heritage. How hard is that to understand?
Two unstable ego maniacs negotiating. What could go wrong?
Don't see investors anywhere lining up for this opportunity, especially after pulling out of the Iran deal. Actions have consequences that words do not. It appears the air kissing phase is over and that the air is coming out of the balloon.
I'm shocked.
11
Nobel, nobel, nobel, no....
1
Whatever successes Trump may stumble into, the Nobel Committee would always deny him the Peace Prize. Surely, the underpinning requirements for the award are honor, dignity, and statesmanship, and Trump hasn't a single one.
1
Oh well, Nobels are overrated anyway.
2
And the game goes on!
Typical childish response....If you don't want to play, I don't care! So predictable.
1
War crimes in Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan are not games.
Glad the media have finally dropped the word "surprise" when reporting this development. We've seen this movie before; it was totally predictable.
I am sorry to see President Moon get punked on this, however. He seems like a smart & sincere player.
9
Trump got played ...again
7
Instead of sending president Trump over there why don't you just send Dennis Rodman to resolve all the issues with North Korea
4
I guess Donald Trump won't get the Nobel Peace Prize after all!
2
What gonna happen to trump
Good riddance. Pile on more sanctions.
2
North Korea wants to find out just how big a sucker Donald Trump is.
3
I already told everyone I would get the Nobel prize!
Sad!
7
Clearly, Kim-Jong Un saw the release of the three Americans as an unreciprocated gesture on the part of the U.S.; IMHO. Rather than responding with a peace-gesture of their own, the U.S. responded with more military exercises.
2
I agree. Diplomacy is give and take. I do not blame Kim. Trump should have postponed military exorcises. With a depleted State department, even a smart man like Pompeo will have a learning curve to understand Asian nuances. Unbelievable!
1
"He will not give up his nuclear weapons as President Trump has demanded."
========================================
Of course not, and that was never on the table as part of the proposed deal.
All Kim agreed to do was to stop testing, which means in effect to stop trying to improve his weapons.
Trump is dangerous, but even more so is John Bolton, whose childishly irresponsible ranting has had a directly negative effect on the plans for peace talks.
This warmongering ghoul needs to be kicked out of government, and soon. Whatever assurance of peace can be achieved in the Far East depends upon it.
5
Kim must have asked Gaddafi how the deal worked out for him.
5
Can't ask Gaddafi anything at this point. He sleeps with the fishes.
Kim remembers what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after the public killing of Gaddafi: "We came. We saw. He died."
2
Where do you want your Noble Peace Prize delivered President Trump?
2
The only one who didn't see this coming is Trump. Let's hold off on the Nobel Peace Prize talk, hmmmm?
1
Does he still get the Nobel?
Don't shine up that Nobel prize.
Headline: Man Born Yesterday Surprised by North Korea.
Anybody with a sense of history could see this coming a mile away.
4
There goes Trump's Nobel Prize.
Mr. Bolton's statement that the precedent for North Korea negotiations should be Libya would be laughable, were it not so pathetic. If Kim has any idea what happened next in Libya, which he probably does, that statement alone will keep him from negotiating.
5
So, our Deal Maker got played huh?
Gosh, I AM surprised ...
4
It appears Kim just finished reading "the Art of the Deal".
4
Trump should appreciate this tactic. Btw, and this isn't a racist dig, in negotiating with Koreans on anything, culturally it's accepted to change the parameters at any point, even ones we would normally accept as established. It's just standard business.
1
Dear President Dennison,
Maybe if you spice up your offer with a free weekend
at Mar-a-Lagoville your new BFF will reconsider dismantling his only hope for remaining a player on the world stage. Ha.
Only a Fool rushes in where Obama feared to tread.
1
It seems as if Kim Jong-un received his education at Trump University.
3
Is it really hard to fathom why they would backtrack from dealing with an administration that reneged on a deal with Iran, and is led by an unstable man who is being advised by John Bolton who just said that he wants this to go the Libya way? Whatever happened to Gaddafi after he gave up his weapons? Someone jog my memory please!
6
Is John Bolton the main obstacle standing between Donald Trump and a Nobel Peace Prize?
Looks like Kim read Trump's book.
Oh-oh.....
While it may be satisfying to link North Korea's 'turn around' to John Bolton's bellicose tone or to Trump's decision to unilaterally pull out of the Iran deal, this article is correct in stating that what we are witnessing is a replay of an established North Korean pattern.
The only difference between this Kim's behavior and that of his father and grandfather is that he appears to have waited longer to pull the rug out from under the process than usual.
3
There is absolutely no doubt that the meeting will take place. What happens in the long run is anybody's guess. If I were Kim, I'd stand down and wait for a Dem to be elected, then restart the program.
"People close to the White House said the uncoordinated nature of the statements reflected the newness of the president’s national security team."
Um, Trump has been President for 15 months; why is his national security team still "new?"
And didn't he promise us that he would put "the best people ever" into his team?
I'm so glad that we've got a "very stable leader" in charge....
8
For North Korea, this is business as usual. They have an interesting history with negotiations. Their approach to this summit is to try and gain any advantage possible, and to test the reaction, before the actual summit. Expect more to go on during the summit. Trump has chosen to go about these talks in a different way (without the lower levels working on aspects of the deal in advance) and nothing either side does should be considered unexpected or discreditable. During the summit we can expect both leaders to exhibit showmanship and even brinksmanship. For Kim, to get a meeting with a sitting U.S. president is a tremendous coup. Nonetheless, if there is any chance of winding down the threat to our partners and allies in the region, it should be pursued.
3
One small data point for whatever it is worth:
A friend is visiting her family in South Korea as she does every year. She says that most people seem to be paying little attention to the Donald & Kim show.
She has been busy shopping and visiting and dining out.
1
Pompeo the “good guy,” Bolton the “bad guy.” Does anyone think this was actually coordinated?
And now what is our dear leader going to do? Scary thought.
2
I would not be so hard on our POTUS.
It's in America's interest to denuclearize the peninsula and not in the interest of POTUS.
Remember that he is on record to utterly destroy North Korea - and he said that at U.N.
If folks think he outplayed our POTUS, imagine our strong ally South Korea.
They went out of their way to make the Olympics almost that of North Korea even though the South paid for everything.
By these antics, the little rocket man might think he can play the same cards, but in bridge terms, we still hold the trump card - our allies in Japan and South Korea and our resolve.
This puppy may be playing to his own Peoria - if not, he knows what's coming to him.
Trump was praising Kim Jong-un just last week, when will the name calling tweets start again? Sports betting is legal now, pretty soon Vegas will have odds on Trump's tweets and his sons will have a piece of that action because they have the inside connection!
1
I don't care if we negotiate with Kim for the next 100 years. As with Iran, the point of this exercise is to keep him engaged. So what if we don't achieve a clear victory? It's 1/10000 as expensive as war.
PS: Anyone who thinks a madman will ever become a responsible global player is nuts.
2
So it seems that North Korea's leadership has studied the methods of the US leadership - does not our leader express the desire/wiliness to deal, then abruptly "walk away" hoping to force better terms or demonstrate how tough he is?
1
Who would have thought that negotiating peace and nuclear demilitarization with North Korea could be so complicated? Kim is playing Trump like a banjo is played during a Kentucky square dance.
2
Why would North Korea want to engage in talks about disarmament when Trump and company just pulled out of the Iran deal? How would it be good for them to sign a deal with the U.S. when Trump pulls out of that deal at the same time as the US conducts invasion exercises on their border. If some other country did the same thing on our border would any American recommend destroying our nuclear stockpile? It would also be helpful if Americans would remember that we engaged in a war with them that left their country devastated from our bombing campaign. As weird as the NK government is, it is not always irrational as depicted in the American press.
1
Gee, they didn't see that coming!!!!? Trump lauding himself for his great victory before anything really happened or agreed was the bonehead play of a novice. He handed Kim Jong-un a means to humiliate him. Trump needs to learn when to shut up. Especially as he torpedoed another Treaty last week. Trump was not helped by the ever insulting Bolton who of all people should have known that the one comparison that couldn't upset Kim's regime more was the Libyan one. Of course, underlying it all was the North Korean tactic of turnaround. Trump gave Kim just the excuse to walk away and in effect, was totally played by a second leader in the course of one week. This is an administration that is getting increasingly short on talent, strategic thinking and competent and consistent execution.
3
Only a fool or Trump supporter would not have seen this coming. In no way was Kim Jong Un going to give up his nuclear arsenal. He just tossed the idea out as bait to get Trump lured into a discussion. Kim needs a relief on sanctions and an improvement in relations with his neighbors, China and South Korea. If Kim could make a fool of Trump in a meeting for the world to see it would make him a hero. Many countries would like to do business with North Korea and could care less about who is the leader. Kim also knows that Trump will be gone by 2020, maybe even sooner. Why should he make a deal with a lame duck president. How is that as food for thought for all Trump supporters?
4
Something like this was inevitable after we ditched the Iran deal. Why would any country enter into any agreements with the US if it can be trashed at will by a "distracted" President who thrives on ill-informed theatrics that divert attention away from his corruption?
2
It's very telling that the one nation that Americans never describe as making "threats" is their own.
3
Sounds reasonable on the part of N. Korea.
It would also be reasonable for them to insist that the US disarm too!
How is it that the US is the only country to have used nuclear weapons in war, but many of the citizens of the US think it is ok to insist that others not have these weapons?
Does the NY Times ever wonder about this? Discuss it?
But I read this paper for news, not discernment.
Think for yourself?
We knew clearly what the USA, Korea and Japan wanted from deal with North Korea. A denuclearized Korean peninsula. Now it is becoming clearer what North Korea wants in exchange besides the lifting of tough sanctions. North Korea would like to see end to the South Korean and US navy drills in the waters surrounding the Korean peninsula. Quite reasonable I would think unless John Bolton wants to insert his 2 cents. As Karl Rove said don't think Kim is stupid. He is not giving up his rockets for nothing. He has just as much responsibility to make North Korea great again as Trump has to make America great again. It has to be a fair give and take without kicking the can further down as the previous presidents have done.
1
"Oh, this is going to be sooooo easy." "Come to papa!, Kim Jong Un." Probably, Bolton's bullish presence changed the entire picture. Egg on your face Mr. Genius. "We'll seeeeeee, we'll seeeeee what happens!"
Whatever happens from this point on, one thing has been accomplished: North Korea has shown it is fickle, untrustworthy, and its promises and statements mean little. That whatever he might say at any future meeting, could similarly be ignored the next day on some pretext.
He has also embarrassed its umbilical provider, China, which has supposedly been working to have NK join the other civilized nations its surrounded by, like S. Korea, Russia, and Japan.
I am still not able to understand why is that the Europe and America can have Nuclear weapons but no North Korea cannot.
I hope that this episode will serve as a wake-up call to President Trump about the person who he will be facing in Singapore in less than a month. Americans have unfortunately been fed a diet of comedic jokes about Kim Jong Un that have misled them into thinking that he will be a pushover. But far from being a pushover, he is revealing himself to be a cunning and determined adversary.
Americans have to start taking North Korea seriously. They are not the ignorant, backward people that we assume them to be. They are not the mere puppets of China, either. They will be playing hardball at the upcoming Summit talks, and the US will need to bring its best game if they want to avoid being outplayed by the North.
And so much depends on these Summit talks succeeding. Because if they fail - or are canceled - we may have to prepare for War.
1
Unfortunately I think Trump's best game is checkers. And all short term gain.
It seems like Mr. Kim is simply taking a page from Mr. Trump's playbook. Pretend (or at first intend) to welcome the meeting, wait until we start bragging about Nobel prizes and making demands, and then, oops, just kidding. Sound familiar?
4
Given his relevant history, "merely" appointing Bonkers Bolton National Security Adviser was, indeed, an insult to the North. Turning him loose to spew his threats, at this moment, is seriously offensive.
And going ahead with military exercises on the eve of the summit is simply brain-dead, or it is if the U.S. is interested in real negotiations.
4
One word- China
Kim is in the Chinese pocket and he is being used for China to regain their leverage after their ZTE nearly collapsed. Hence his threat to cancel the talks.
1
Why would any country in its right mind abandon its nuclear capabilities in the era of Trump? He's itching for war and they know it.
3
It's an old tactic, alright. The same used against those that hijacked Nixon's China policy; hijacking to force servitude resulting in threats of nuclear violence. That, is still the essence of the message being sent by cancelling meetings. A reminder, of where we were. Fortunately, they trust President Trump; they also know he wont be president forever.
1
North Korea’s apparently abrupt about-face could have been predicted by a mere child. Kim Jong-un was never (and will never) going to yield to John Bolton’s demands that they surrender their nuclear capability in return for what amounts to “three hots and a cot.”
North Korea’s history in “negotiations” with the United States is rife with mistrust and deception and agreements broken off. Kim may well be under the spell of his father and grand-father that we, “the great Satan,” will never abide by our given (formal, written and witnessed) word. He was probably always going to be susceptible to the blandishments of Xi Jinping, his giant neighbor. Whatever sanctions the United States threatens to bear with Kim’s recalcitrance were always less onerous than braving the wrath of a powerful neighbor, now, without question, the lion in the jungle in the Pacific Rim.
The American president, for his part, predictably, walked into the trap cleverly laid for him by Israel and Saudi Arabia, both of whom feared and hated Iran and the 2015 nuclear agreement that—they think—empowered Iran, the sunset stipulations notwithstanding. Kim now knows, as if he was in any doubt, that this president cannot ever be trusted, having recently given the hard-line, adamantine negotiating positions to (good guy) Michael Pompeo and (tough guy) Bolton. The North Koreans have long loathed Bolton and Trump’s choice of him cemented their misgivings that America was an earnest partner.
Singapore won’t happen.
6
Golly, d'ya think?
From another article on the same subject:
"Analysts said it’s unlikely that North Korea intends to scuttle all diplomacy. More likely, they said, is that Pyongyang wants to gain leverage ahead of the talks between Kim and Trump ... "
Governments often lack the "luxury" choice of simply doing nothing. Too bad here, since that's probably the best response. I wouldn't change my behavior because of anything Kim says or does. I'd simply ask him "Is our meeting on, or not?" If he says "yes," I'd say "Great -- thanks for confirming!" and hop on a plane to Singapore just before the June 12 meeting. If he says "no," I'd tell my pilots to relax, and stay home and watch soap operas on TV.
Oh, wait. You mean this might not be easy? Trump's Nobel isn't quite in the Greatest President Ever Trophy Room yet?
Well, if the North Korea thing falls through, he can always go back to giving us the best health care in the world. And fixing our infrastructure. And creating lots of high paying jobs. Getting rid of one-sided trade deals and giving us the best golf courses in the world.
I loved watching Sarah Huckabee Sanders on this little snag: the White House "fully expected" this. Oh ye of little faith!
See? No worries.
Only 2 years, 8 months, and 5 days to go until Inauguration Day 2020.
3
Just need a Kim Jong-un impersonator to go to mar a lago , sign a piece of paper in a photo op with trump and victory will be declared by fox news. everything else will be declared fake news.
1
While there may be myriad reasons - both older and newer - this “hiccup” has occurred, the one that stands out to me is the decision by the United States and South Korea to initiate or continue their planned joint military exercises. How unfortunate.
Who needs this summit and deal more? It looks like Trump does. With his supporters calling for a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump just for saying he'll meet with Kim, he's in a needier position. Although, if it doesn't succeed, Trump says, "that's fine too". It's all about what makes Trump look good in the eyes of his base, not what is good for world peace.
Its the US that is jeopardizing the talks. The US 'exercises' are practice sessions for 'bombing and invasion' of N.Korea.
That's hardly operating in good faith. Surely they should be halted as talks between N. and S. Korea are going on and in anticipation of US-N.Korea talks. IF a foreign nation started practice bombing and military movements just on the US border, would it be tolerated?
1
I would like to hear more about how the Chinese news is reporting this. China is the silent partner in these negotiations. What has Xi offered Kim in those recent trips? I cannot believe that China would not be looking for control in this situation.
This is what happens when "Amateur Hour" best describes the Executive branch of government. Trump, Bolton and Pompeo don't appear to be on the same page, despite WH press releases. Kim is many things, unaware of such disparity is not one of them.
Which is why summits are months, if not years in the making. Summits like the proposed June 12th meeting, where, for the first time, the President of the United States meets with the dictatorial leader of North Korea should not be proposed with the same ease as one would order a cheeseburger from McDonalds. What can possibly go wrong?
Crying heard coming from behind the closed door to the Oval Office...
"But that Nobel Prize was MINE. MINE. MINE!!!! And it was the biggest and best Nobel Prize EVER! That little Rocket Man can't take it from me! WAH WAH WAH WAH"
1
When America led by Trump walked out of the Iran dead, it should have been clear to North Koreans that agreements with Trump is as fickle as mercury on a leaf.
Then came the Max Thunder drill. Trump considered it par-for-the-course. However, North Korea considered it a violation, at least in spirit, of the preliminary agreement they just signed with South Korea.
As of now, Kim is playing the Doves against the Hawks (especially John Bolton). The signs are that Trump is caving in and the doves are winning. There is a Nobel at stake.
Way to go Kim. You cornered the hawks with a master stroke.
1
Unfortunately, we have the least competent and least intelligent president in the history of the US trying to deal with it.
4
Umm. As we close in on talks, the NOK’s resort to bait and switch again. Did anyone expect unilateral disarmament other than our rookie negotiator Trump? Kim ‘s new game is “stump Trump”. Trump’s firing up So Carolina for building a new cache of nuclear weapons probably became an unintended trade-off to Kim.
Oh,no. Does that mean no Nobel Peace Prize?
As disorganized as this administration proves to be, again and again, it would not be surprising to learn that the left hand (the Summit hand) didn't know what the right hand (military exercise hand) was doing.
Instead of being a thoughtful and coordinated administration, this example of tone-deaf disorganization has come to exemplify the trump house.
Yes, Kim is engaging in his own war games, yet, in this event, it appears he has a grievance.
Still, who really suffers is South Korea.
1
Is the proper response obvious as it seems?
NK has been cooperative only because it thinks Trump is a madman, and now his principal adviser -- John Bolton -- is even more of one. If NK rattles its sword (as it's done) and Trump blinks, he'll look rational and NK will start to question Bolton's influence over him (since we all know, or should, that Bolton won't "blink").
Ergo, Trump won't blink. Seems obvious. Am I missing something here?
It's been interesting to watch how Kim Jung Un will dance and to which tune he dances to. However, if I were in his shoes I would be looking at the reality of the "Libyan Model" & the "Iran Deal". The former, give up your program and the leader ends up dead in a ditch. The latter, you make a deal to curtail your nuclear ambitions and your partner reneges on the agreement.
I don't see him doing either of these. Whats a dictator to do? Put the dance shoes away and stand pat.
Maybe Kim would have backtracked in any case, but would it have killed the US and South Korea to postpone the military exercises as a goodwill gesture? Seems like it would have been a low-cost way to nudge the process in a positive direction.
Apparently, North Korea objects to the possible inclusion of US B-52 bombers in the joint US/South Korea "Maximum Thunder" aerial exercise. Looks like North Korea views the B-52 as an offensive weapon as opposed to the so-called defensive nature of the exercise.
So much hand wringing. Why?
Kim will never give up his nukes under any circumstance, for any incentive. He rightly understand that they are his sole guarantee that no country will invade his. He sees what happened to Saddam in Iraq and to Khadafi in Libya after they agreed to give up their nuclear ambitions.
So relax. War games or no war games, it changes nothing. Except perhaps the expectations of naive people who really should know better.
Classic Trump. Oversell the promise. Greatly underestimate the magnitude of the task. Refuse to to the hard work. Watch it fall apart. Then blame Obama. I’ve seen this movie before.
1
Trump was played. Is anyone surprised? Better to leave future talks between South and North Korea. Amateur hour.
1
Let's face it, we blew it. War games in NKs face a week before these talks is nuts.
The United States committed war crimes and atrocities during the Korean war; a conflict that was never formally resolved. Additionally, the USA has engaged in provocative and threatening war games on the NK border ever since. There is no reason NK should trust America; it is very clear that without nuclear capability they would simply be steamrolled. What America should do - if it is indeed serious about ending the so-called 'threat' from NK - is formally end the Korean war; atone for the atrocities that were committed at the time, end the war games and assure NK that there will be no further aggression towards them. That, of course, won't happen.
Watch Trump panic. OMG, I will give them anything not to cancel. I must be a famous negotiator near to the mid-terms. The world will see what a fabulous Prez I am and I will be nominated for the Nobel Prize. Please, please don't cancel our meetings. I will build you a Wal-Mart and Target.
When you put two ego-maniacal narcissists in the same room you are unlikely to witness anything that could charitably be seen as negotiation. There will be no positive outcome from this charade.
The world will be a better place when this pair of jokers are deposed from their respective thrones.
1
Of course NYT and nearly every other American media outlet conveniently skips over the idiotic decision by the US to hold joint military exercises with South Korea less than a month before a critical meeting with Kim Jong Un. No, that couldn't have had anything to do with it. It's just a predictable pattern of North Korea flip-flopping, right?
So the Nobel prize celebration is premature?
"Who would have thought negotiating a peace deal would be so hard?"
It would be nice if we had experts at the table rather than Mr. Pompeo. A few days ago, Pompeo referred to Kim as Chairman Un.
May we please call attention to the fact that this White House simply doesn't care about human rights? That is one of the Trump's weaknesses that Kim is exploiting. Another such weakness is the president's lack of negotiating skill.
The president has unilaterally given Mr. Kim several concessions. Trump agreed, without conditions, to meet with Kim. Trump has already suggested reducing our forces in South Korea.
China will be unhappy with any change that does not weaken the US in the region. Like Russia, China very much wants the US off of the Korean Peninsula.
1
And, as expected, Bolton, and Trump, put another wrench in the works. First by the US dumping the Iran Nuclear Treaty, then by Bolton's rhetoric and past history of bad words against North Korea and its leadership.
The Trump administration, and his minions, have no clue in dealing with any form of foreign policy; let alone Asian cultures. To be honest, I am surprised Trump got as far as he did, and then to watch opportunity go crashing down.
Hopefully, President Moon can at least improve relations between North and South Korea, for the sake of the Korean people. Hopefully, Trump did not poison this well, as he has been doing with just about everything else he has touched.
8
Some military crises are triggered by one aggressor testing the backbone & resolve of counterparts, transgressing boundaries & agreements as far as they can get away with, as in "wars of conquest/aggression" (WWII) while other crises occur from both sides piling of errors/missteps/miscalculations until "tensions" escalate into crisis or outright conflict (WWI).
It's a bit hard to tell which genre the current "unraveling"/reversals falls into (hopefully mere temporary setbacks). Either NK was negotiating in good faith & got spooked by clumsy adherence to a military exercise schedule that should've been revised, or NK has pulled a devious Bait-And-Switch scam, of rather massive proportions.
I have to assume NK had been informed these exercises were to continue, & their earlier agreements tacitly accepted their at least temporary continuation. So it looks like bait & switch: they'd consciously gotten hopes up, planning to use the momentum on our side to extract more concessions.
Or maybe the matter simply hadn't come up, & NK assumed suspension of the exercises. But that seems unlikely, so it looks increasingly like "bait and switch."
Hopefully, there have just been some "innocent" misunderstandings that can be corrected, but given my understsnding of the parties involved, their histories and their being such shrewd negotiators, hard to be sanguine that that is the case. Feeling pessimistic.
2
"In a recent television interview, Mr. Bolton said the precedent for the North Korea negotiations should be Libya, which agreed to box up its entire nuclear program "
We all know what happened to Gaddafi of Libya, Kim Jong Un is smarter than Gaddafi, he is not going to let it happen to him.
7
What did anyone expect after Bolton bragged on the Sunday shows that he would turn North Korea into Libya?
The same Bolton who pushed for war in Iraq, and now pushes for war in Iran?
The same Bolton who as Nader-voter enabled Bush 43 appointee scuttled the Clinton era path to a better relationship with NK before NK had any nukes?
There is only so much the wise South Korean president Moon can do to counter the immaturity and loud-mouth bullying of Trump and Bolton.
21
North Korea hands over three prisoners and agrees to undo it is nuclear program. We respond with wargames. Is it really so unreasonable for the north to cry foul?
33
And the band played on. If we had had a more functional State Department this might not be happening or it would be but we wouldn't be surprised. Trump has not been the smart one here. Bullying may work in the short term but the long term consequences are not pretty. Then again, Trump, like Kim, doesn't seem understand the more subtle tactics that can be used. If Kim out-bullies Trump and wins this round what will Trump's supporters say about his diplomatic skills?
16
"Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, has revealed his bottom line: He will not give up his nuclear weapons as President Trump has demanded."
No one ever had any reason to believe otherwise.
No one with any common sense believed that the Kims would spend decades starving their own people in pursut of nuclear weapons and ICBM's then give them up right after they achieved that goal.
22
I predict the meeting will still go off.
Here’s how it will go:
Trump greets Kim pseudo-enthusiastically and pseudo-affectionately, the same way he did with Macron.
Kim smiles back pleasantly, looking for all the world like a Cheshire cat ready to pounce.
The Dow drops 5000 points.
4
I'm shocked, shocked that Kim would withdraw from these talks.
"He will not give up his nuclear weapons as President Trump has demanded."
I'm laughing at the Trump crowed because they thought that the DPRK would be like Jeff Sessions: Trump vilely insults him and then he crawls back.
It shows the ineptitude of a Trump who was elected precisely because he has no political ability.
And Bolton reveals why he was so reviled in the past:
"But Mr. Bolton was more blunt, calling for 'getting rid of all the nuclear weapons, dismantling them, taking them to Oak Ridge, Tenn.,' ... He said that if the North Koreans 'want to become a normal nation like South Korea, the quicker they denuclearize, the quicker that will come.'"
Bolton has no penchant for diplomacy. So we are in the typical Trump fog... or swamp.
Bolton is bordering on the inept in failing to establish *diplomatic* goals for a *global* relationship with North Korea. There are some models: we put up with nuclear weapons in India, and Pakistan, that is no model of stability. We don't want them there, but, clearly, the "Bolton Doctrine" does not apply in these examples.
The intelligent goal is to bring the DPRK into the international community such that the world has communications with that nation. This leads to *stability* which is the first order.
Merely demanding that North Korea simply remove its nuclear arsenal to Oak Ridge is absurdly counterproductive. There is no diplomacy. Only a Sessions would obey.
14
Was it entirely necessary to flaunt military capability between the US and South Korea at a time when mending fences seemed to be approaching?
If peace is to be discussed, why be bellicose?
If this is the way the diplomacy will be handled with Pompeo and Bolton, it seems to show some serious ineptitude.
Disappointed in President Moon, as well.
4
North Korea is not stupid. Why would any country sign a pact with the US after US backed out of Iran deal? Saying North Korea simply "returned to form" misses the point, the cause and effect and the timing, of Trump's letting down Iran and all of our European allies. And who would invest in North Korea knowing the US could make an about face at any moment?
251
I also strongly suspect that Kim has already gotten what he wanted, either from Trump or Xi - why should he bother to play along any further? What did Kim want? Dismantling of the nuke test site tells me he got a nice shiny supercomputer as to not need to do those tests anymore. Nice PR all around, but a quantum leap forward in capability of Kim/NK. Was the release of the 3 Americans the final piece of this quid pro quo puzzle? Surely another 'win' for Trump - can't help but wonder what GOP leadership would be saying about this had Obama done the same... never mind, I know: TREASON! LOCK HIM UP! Sighs.
12
trump keeps telling us that he is going to "Make America Great Again". He didn't say anything about making North Korea great.
2
Shall the US be forever beholdened to North Korea? This administration wants to play Zero Sum diplomacy with someone who knowingly plays by his own rules. Oh wait, that's this administration too.
3
Uh, what they're doing sounds like...negotiating? But sure, make it seem sinister and inscrutable, Times. I know y'all have cheered on every American conflict real or proposed since Grenada
3
The previous posturing was just that. You can see China all over this. Mr. Kim is a puppet.
1
North Korea would be pretty stupid to give up all their nukes. The moment they totally disarm the US will immediately work towards toppling their government. It would be smarter for them to agree to reducing their stockpile, not expanding it, and / or entering into some sort of economic codependency that discourages any military activity from or against them. The track record for the US keeping its word with anyone who can't participate in some version of Mutually Assured Destruction is very poor.
6
I don't think Mr. Kim looks weak. I think he looks BRILLIANT!
He has managed to humiliate the Great Humiliator in front of the entire world. Were Trump the kind who could actually learn from experience, he would just stop running off his mouth before absorbing professional advice.
Sycophants not included.
15
Did we really expect that a despicable dictatorship would give up a 'weapon' (nuclear) that guarantees it's very survival? This, with the stupid Trump's change in tone from 'rocket man' to 'honorable leader' worth meeting with, to solve all misunderstandings and complete denuclearization....and friendship for ever. Kim Jong-un's corrective action was to be expected; he just wanted to see how to trick a clueless and unscrupulous Trump into meeting with him, so to enhance his image and obtain some sweet deal for North Korea's desperate need to feed it's people, what with the huge waste in armament building to feed Kim's god-like nonsense (not too dissimilar to Trump's, come to think of it). What a sick joke; no happy ending here, just disappointment. On the other hand, a tone-deaf military exercise of South Korea and the U.S. while a timid diplomatic move was on the ropes. What a blunder, but Trump, true to form, will find scapegoats to blame, and distractions to keep us busy from revealing his incompetence.
4
North Korea probably realizes that Trump will give them anything to make himself look good.
9
The notion that Kim will give up his weapons easily is crazy. He is a murderous thug, and saw what happened to murderous thugs like Gaddafi before him. Without his nukes he is finished.
Trump is at heart a transactional simpleton. He is all tactics, and no strategy. To avoid a focus on his failures, he will attempt to start a war. Lets hope Mueller completes his work well before then.
10
Well, there goes the Nobel that "everybody" believes Trump has earned.
5
This is good news. The fact that Kim doesn't have any new playbook to work with means countermoves to the old playbook can be developed. Try to fool me once, shame on you; try to fool me twice -- gotcha.
DPRK is a pathetically small and flimsy family dictatorship, blown all out of proportion by the news media. The real adversary here is China. The ZTE forgiveness announcement is one dangle of many, public and secret, in that much more complex and significant realignment.
1
Reminds me of the manical motorist and the hitchhiker. Motorist pulls over but when hitchhiker reaches for the door handle, the driver pulls up a few feet and cackles in typical Giuliani style.
3
Gee. trump seems to have been played. Imagine that.
25
....and, who’s surprised?
8
I guess trump should get the Nobel prize - after all he is working so hard for world peace.
3
with Mr. Kim saying his country wants to enter talks with the United States as an equal nuclear power.
LOL
With all the turmoil in the world, the last thing it needs is minor pests like Mr. Kim with their swelled heads. Without North Korea, South Korea is just Korea. Reunification really doesn't have to be as hard as we make it out having to be.
What on earth were they holding these "excercises" for? Nobdy believes that all those bombers are "purely defensive"--well, perhaps a few people with complete ideological blinders. As much as stupidity, it was just pure incompetence. What else would we expect from the careening bus full of clowns that is the current regime in Washington DC.
3
It makes absolutely no difference. Only a fool would believe that NK would give up their nuclear weapons. Kim may act erratically but he's no fool. He understands that those nukes are the only guarantee he has that his regime will stay in power, immune to the threat of foreign invasion.
1
So much for the Nobel Peace Prize.
5
How about the Nobel Piece Prize instead?
3
Donald, you've been conned. How does it feel, to be on the other side of THAT equation ??? Karma.
9
Dear Phyllis—He’s always on that side of the score. The losing side. But being the sociopath that he is, he thinks he has won and will crow to the world @ his superior deal-making abilities and his victory. His distinct parallel world, which horrifyingly, is amassing thousands of new members daily.
2
Well, we just Have to play war games, right?
2
Why we are still acting like we won the war when NK obviously did not lose? They have nuclear weapons, therefore they are absolutely assured that they won't be attacked, except in Bolton's idiotic tirades.
If US is serious about talks with NK, we better stop all that expensive and ultimately useless sabre rattling, get to the table and negotiate. Make sure we understand this is a very different scenario from the USSR collapse in the late 80s, because China will never allow NK regime to fall and lose their sphere of influence on Korean peninsula.
1
The only sure bet in this negotiation is that both side are not trustworthy.
Agreements with Trump or Kim in the past have proved to have the value of used toilet paper.
Why wouldn't Kim fear coming home to an antiaircraft barrage or aircraft accident directed by those that have had friends and family slaughtered at his behest.
It's the Praetorian Palace Guard that can most easily work regime change. A palace coup while in Singapore?
Definitely a feeling of get him before he gets me in the air.
The two major players in this lack the ethics of cockroaches.
Those seven governors who want Trump to get the Nobel better rethink their stance.
4
Yeah, the “old tactic” is sticking to their demand, lo, these many decades: cut out the regime-change exercises and we’ll dump the nukes we have solely to protect our regime. That our regime is awful is beside the point: we like it, and we’re willing to defend it, like any other nation, right or wrong. All you have to do, US, is stop playing regime-change wargames five inches from our borders.
Given your postwar record, US, you’ve incentivized every regime, whatever its character, that you don’t like now or will decide on a dime not to like anymore (Iraq, anyone?), to develop a nuclear-weapons insurance policy. As warned for decades by your less insane analysts.
That’s the “old trick” we’re talking about here, just in case anyone’s confused by the NYT’s choice of words or framing here.
Wait, the great deal-maker said was all going to be "so easy"! Put the Nobel Peace Price on hold.
4
It's time the world woke itself from this idyllic dream that Kim has dismantled his nuclear arsenal, the peninsula is reunited and prosperity finds its way into the peaceful north. Not gonna happen. What would happen to Kim and his regime should this outrageous accord be implemented and we begin to uncover the atrocities that are occurring in his prison nation? Once the work camps are opened, the people have access to the internet and the truth is revealed to the free world of what really has taken place in that country over the last 65 years? The United States cannot just forget that those atrocities ever occurred and ensconce Kim in some remote Shangra La to live out the rest of his days. Once the North Korean nuclear arsenal is neutralized the United States will be free to deal with the despot. This is the underlying melody both sides are dancing to right now and they know it. Come the end of the night they'll have gotten their dance cards punched and returned to their corners.
Woke up this morning to this news and discovered I had something in common with a dictator, Kim Jung Un to be specific. Neither one of us has any respect for John Bolton. What has the world become when you have more in common with a dictator than you own country's leader and Administration. We should have never pulled out of Iran nuclear agreement nor brought Bolton into this Administration. And all of this because Trump must reverse everything that a 1/2 black President has as his legacy. We are all in danger with this Administration.
5
Nobody wants attempts to achieve a denuclearized Korean peninsula to fail. But what Republicans, all giddy that their boy may garner a peace prize, overlooked is that any U.S. President in the past four Administrations could have arranged a one-to-one sit down with the North Korean leader. That was one of their primary objectives which would elevate their hermit kingdom to international status. But why let John Bolton, a regime change addict and someone the North Koreans despise, have anything to do with the negotiations. And why, oh , why start blushing and going 'ah peshaw' when your TV fans start chanting Nobel. Even an amateur negotiator knows that you don't let your adversary realize what is most important to you.
5
Kim Jung Un says that he desires 'denuclearization'.
(What is 'denuclearization'? ...the dis-enabling , removal, & destruction of nuclear weapons.)
But if some countries do not denuclearize...there is no true denuclearization.
Trump wants Kim Jung Un to denuclearize NK... but is POTUS Trump willing to denuclearize the USA and the South Korea nuclear umbrella?
NK claims FREEDOM their nuclear self defense.
USA also claims FREEDOM their nuclear self defense.
Both worship same FREEDOM for 'their nuclear rights'.
Will Trump or Kim Jung Un give up their FREEDOM?
...hint: Ironically, on May 9, referring to Iran’s refusal to negotiate a new deal, POTUS Trump said “I’d probably say the same thing if I was in their position.”
So the US should expect NK to unilaterally give up its nukes without asking for any reduction in the threat, as NK sees it, from the US?
It would be nice for us if that would happen, but that's not the way negotiations work. Moreover, believing that NK will give up the nuclear capability they worked so hard to get is just naive dreaming.
1
Why couldn't we - I don't know - not conduct military exercises shortly before the proposed meeting, as a gesture of goodwill? It's not like it would have cost us anything substantial in terms of military preparedness.
One of the biggest problems when dealing with the US is that we say nice things, but hardly ever actually change our actions in response to anyone else's concerns.
So, for instance, Bush looked into Putin's eyes and "saw his soul", and he offered his heartfelt gratitude for Putin's cooperation after 9/11. Then he unilaterally abandoned the ABM treaty for his missile defense program, expanded NATO up to Russia's borders in the Baltics, offered strong support for pro-Western leaders in Ukraine and Georgia who were no less corrupt or authoritarian than their predecessors, and attempted to bring both countries into NATO. That last thing was truly a "red line" for Russia, and the response was to provoke Georgia into a war in 2008 and invade Ukraine in 2014 following another pro-Western revolution. All of this was completely avoidable.
As for North Korea, sure, it's a volatile regime headed by a tyrant. But just making some minor concessions would make the Korean Peninsula far more stable than any number of military exercises. It's pretty likely the talks would fall apart even if they were held, thanks to a probable lack of concessions other than a slight easing of sanctions on the US side. Or of course something even dumber, like undiplomatic behavior by Trump.
1
Maybe N.K.should copy trump, and hire that lady newsreader as a diplomat.
It looks like Un has the US backed into a corner and we do not have many good options. It very worrisome that John Bolton is probably the last person Trump talks to about foreign policy issues. Apparently Mr Bolton’s was instrumental in getting us involved the disastrous Iraq war.
I am not American but the only game I see is on the 16th of May Donald Trump needs Kim-Jong-Un and Kim-Jong-Un needs Donald Trump to give each other any kind of credibility.
The United States of America is a super power saddled with a an increasingly corrupt judiciary , legislatures filled with reality challenged and ethically challenged toadies, and an executive designed to confound even those who are immersed Alice's adventures in Wonderland.
Korea is a basket case situated between two countries that are leading the way in a world where a billion people have been lifted out of poverty in the last decade.
In a world where the lives of ordinary people improves every day the USA and Korea lead the world back to the inglorious past where people struggled just to survive and the elite were in complete control of their minds and bodies.
3
Heard someone say North Korea without a nuke is like Saudi Arabia without oil. Bolton's take-it-or-leave-it, public posturing - instead of backroom diplomacy - further cements the parties into a corner. Unless Jong-un/Trump are playing out an already choreographed deal-resurrection for maximum public, political gain, where they both share the Nobel Peace Prize - which I is seriously doubtful - this is just another, tragic episode of "Trump Amateur Hour" :(
5
Maybe Trump will finally learn that "denuclearization" means different things to Washington and Pyongyang. But I doubt it.
4
"United States, rather than offering concessions of its own, has vowed only to keep up its maximum pressure on the North if it fails to quickly denuclearize".
It seems to me that the talk proposal from the Trump administration is a sham.
Leopards don’t change spots. Americans ought to learn more of what people across the globe are thinking and saying about the US. For if you follow that, you realise that the erosion of American power is happening faster than most prediction. The politicians in Washington have little clue either.
That Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s governor, and a group of fellow governors are backing Donald Trump’s nomination for the Nobel peace prize, citing of what they called Trump’s “transformative efforts to bring peace to the Korean peninsula”. says it all.
I am amazed by the incredible gullibility of the top American politicians!
2
Well if this meeting goes up in smoke Trump has a good cover. Blame it on Pompeo and then fire him. I'm not even sure we'll need a SOS if this meeting is canceled.
Who is left to have any diplomatic discussions with? The E.U. nope, China, nope, Canada, nope, Mexico, nada, Iran, no way. This administration has burned about every bridge to diplomacy there is in the world today.
7
Kim Jong-un will not give up his nuclear weapons as President Trump has demanded? No small wonder. If Trump is spending billions in ramping up our capacity as the Times reported recently, then why should Kim Jong-un? It's his only leverage on the world stage. The fact that Trump killed the Iran deal only reinforces North Korea's stance on the matter and distrust of the US. Of course, Trump will blame everyone else or try some other tactic based on his daily briefings from Fox News, Tweet-storm, and go on his "gut" feeling in reaction to these new developments. This presidency is exhausting, and Trump is playing a dangerous game; in fact, they all are.
142
It's not going to be easy for Mr. Kim to give up being a God. Just look at the trouble Mr. Trump has with that.
3
One gets the sense with these two mercurial personalities that only one of them uses the trait strategically. The other one unfortunately for us is used by the trait and is whipsawed reflexively to no productive end for anything but his own immediate ego needs.
That the fate of the free world continues to hang on such vagaries is preposterous. When we elect our tools to office, we should make sure they're the right ones for the jobs at hand. Unless you're just wanting to trash the whole joint. Then by all means, stick with Trump. He's got a good start on that job.
3
As much as I'd like to see a resolution of the North Korea problem, I think Kim Jong-un would be a fool to make any deal with Donald Trump. Donald Trump's word is worth nothing. Even when he signs a contract, no one can trust him. Trump sees no difference between a promise and an off-the-cuff remark.
7
Those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it.
1
This is just another shoe falling. Kim is a big tabby cat playing with a South Korean and an American mouse. Both may well end up in his mouth. The fact that neither South Korean or America saw this coming says a great deal about the leadership and administrations of both countries. I know I saw it coming and so did many experienced diplomats and media in both countries.
2
No they won't give up their nuclear weapons even if we ask nice - and we can't make them. The problem with an administration full of ignorant people who refuse to talk to experts and learn from the past is that they will repeat all the mistakes from the past - and make new ones that nobody could have even imagined.
9
The world's most inflated egos of self-worshiping leaders are bound to clash, and I believe that to be the real reason for NK's threat to dump the nuclear talks. Trump's pride and boasts about getting NK to the table have grabbed all the publicity, so Kim is shoving him aside to be front-and-center -- which he is, for the next 15 minutes until the U.S. president trumps him. This is the most dangerous game possible, King of the Nuclear Hill.
1
Actually all this chest-pounding posturing is kind of entertaining knowing that nothing ever comes of any of it. Then the boredom sets in. Switching to the Mueller channel only reveals old reruns. The more that's on the less there is to watch. Good grief, at least Peanuts is still in the Comics section to maintain sanity.
Now that I have you out there on the end of the branch I think I'll go ahead and saw it off just to see you fall.
Or in other words "Rocket Man this!"
6
Kim Jung Un ids playing Chess while Trump is playing tiddlywinks. Unfortunately the threat of nuclear war hangs in the balance. I doubt that Trump will ever learn that one cannot bully a country with atom bomb tilled rockets. I just hope the Kim Jung Un is more of an adult the the trumpster.
2
The most bitterly disappointed party must be South Korea. In retrospect, it only has itself to blame because it's acting like the American lackey child. Why did S. Korea go ahead with the exercise? Didn't it realize the stakes involved given its knowledge and experience dealing with N. Korea? Delaying or cancelling the exercise would have been a trust building gesture by S. Korea and it would lose nothing.
The US-S. Korea exercise demonstrates that American diplomacy is both clumsy and uninformed.
116
South Korea's biggest mistake was relying on and trusting the Trump administration, to the point of actively sucking up.
5
Diplomacy? The U.S. does not even have an ambassador to South Korea.
6
I think the military exercises were just a convenient excuse. Not a the real reason for anything, but let's make certain to throw that blame on the South Koreans. Blame is the only thing Americans dole out generously.
2
So, what "deal" can we expect "Nobody makes greater deals than Me!" to make to save face after acting like a 10 year old expecting to get a pony for Christmas?
He was already crowing how he accomplished "more than anybody before him" and was pushing his Leggo's off the mantle to make room for his Nobel.
I'm betting he gives them rights of ownership to a smaller state (or maybe Puerto Rico, since they are so much trouble to him and were very unappreciative of the neglect he provided after Harvey) to bring Kim back to the table and take some of the egg off his face.
To quote a famous nincompoop: Sad!
5
I wonder if the resistance of the North Koreans is fake to make Trump look more triumphant at the bargaining table.
Could the whole thing be scripted for historical purposes, to extol the greatness of Donald J. Trump and for the 2020 election?
Is this a stretch of the imagination?
==========================
1
The announcement that the U.S. was going to spend a few billion on updating our nuclear capability probably didn’t help either,and why should it ? No bel, for either of you despots.
This article is dumb - the North Korea always said this sort of thing was something it would cancel talks over, and it was a condition for continuing talks that these drills would be ended in official statements.
Kim Jong-un said he would give up nuclear weapons if the US stopped these drills, denuclearized the *entire* peninsula, and let South Korea handle its own affairs. The US would never let any of those things happen, so it was only a matter of time before these talks came to an end, but there's absolutely no indication that North Korea was being disingenuous. It was following its long-held line originally put forward by Kim Il-Sung and these movements were completely consistent with stated policy. The US, as always in international affairs, is the disingenuous country - its strategy for dominating global affairs requires it.
4
Trump was pretty transparent about wanting a deal if not any deal to bolster the GOP before the midterm elections. Trump got ahead of himself in thinking that North Korea was willing to hand over their nukes. Trump was so self assured he probably had his acceptance speech already typed up for the Nobel Peace Prize. In the end Trump got played for a fool with his pants down by the North Koreans.
5
Kim is taking a page out of trump's paly book. If I do not get my way I just will not show up!
1
Is anyone really surprised by any of this? Bolton should have kept his mouth shut until Kim and Trump meet during negotiations.
4
So you are going to blame NK for responding to a military provocation on its borders, typical NYT right there.
IF the US had really wanted to hold talks it would have suspended these "exercises" until they were over however the US never really wanted talks in the first place.
Kim's sister bypassed the US at the Olympics and set these talks up without the approval of the US, had the US been able to they would have ended it right there but by the time they noticed it was a done deal so some other way was needed to put an end to them.
These little war games are a perfect way to do that, the US knows that NK considers them a threat, that they would react the way they did if they went ahead with them during the talks and banked on Kim's reaction.
Some day you'll actually report the facts here again instead of the decades of propaganda you've poured over us like effluent.
2
The upcoming talks were just a smokescreen anyway and pointless, and anyone who was getting excited about them is forgetful of history and NK's behavior. After years and repeated broken promises of trade sanctions relief and/or assistance in exchange for "dismantling" or halts to their nuclear program, the Kim's time and again have broken their promises every time and demonstrated that they cannot be trusted. Typical NK delay and distract tactics, dangling the carrot of nuclear cooperation only to deceive and renege.
Sorry. For those of you that got your hopes up, you were being conned from the beginning. Trump and his stooges have been played.
Real sinister genius on Kim's part as well, and real swindle of Trump. Kim postured himself well by releasing several prisoners and signing a treaty with the South, and dangling the carrot of "demilitarization" at Trump. Then Trump tipped his hand: embarrassed himself by graveling to Kim, boasted about nobel peace prices, demonstrated he cannot be trusted and that he won't honor international agreements by unilaterally pulling the US out of a similar type of deal with Iran, and to top it all off Bolton boasts about using the "Libyan model" on North Korea (cause that worked so well for Libya, after all), giving Kim the out he seeks. Trump has been owned.
4
It can hardly be called a con by Kim when what the PDRK has reacted to were the US war games and John Bolton's idiotic rant.
It required no special talent by Kim for the Trump regime to once again show itself to be stupid and irresponsible.
1
The US is so intoxicated with itself that it cannot see the equity in what the rest of the world might want.
1
Remember President Obama's public (and reportedly also private) offer to always be available to talk to President Trump at any time - an offer that likely has been extended by all previous presidents to the current occupant of the Oval Office? An admirable example of the respect, courtesy and friendship all U.S. Presidents have extended to each other, regardless of party affiliation or politics? Until now. Trump has personally (and falsely) accused Obama of criminality while trying to destroy all of his accomplishments, while publicly insulting the Clintons, the Bush family and Jimmy Carter. Yet it's likely Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter would all still be more than willing to talk to Trump when thorny issues like a meeting with Kim appear - all of these men have dealt with the Kim family in the past & could help Trump immeasurably here. But Trump's too stubborn and conflicted to be able to accept help & reportedly doesn't trust anyone, much less these esteemed men who know a 1000 x more about this situation (and the presidency) than Trump does. This is what electing an outsider political amateur with serious psychological problems has gotten us....
11
Going ahead with war game exercises alongside ally South Korea at this time was an unwise decision by the US government.
5
China is calling the shots. Kim Jong-un's train trip to China was not sightseeing. China will demand the US remove nuclear weapons from the area. Trump/Bolton are being played like the rubes they are.
5
Agreed.
However, US removed it's nuclear arsenal from the Korean Peninsula many years ago. What are you referring to?
So Libya gave up all its nuclear weapons and sent everything to Oak Ridge just as Mr Bolton thinks North Korea should do. And how did that work out for Libya and Gaddafi, the then leader of Libya?
2
It did seem too good to be true.
1
Asking NK to give up its nukes is like asking Trump's base to give up their AR-15s.
Same mindset. Not going to happen.
32
"Let's use Libya as a model." What an attractive proposal. What's not to like?
13
Trump is about to learn just how infuriating it is to attempt to negotiate an agreement with someone as erratic as himself.
12
The obvious solution for Trump is to give in to North Korea's demands while pretending that he is not giving in.
He is after all the author of The Art of the Deal.
I expect that both Trump and Kim Jong-Un will manage to land on their feet while doing their complicated dance.
In an ideal world North Korea should agree to give up its nuclear weapons and agree to live in peace. It is not an ideal world. As President Obama observed, we are living in a world in which dictators consider no sacrifice of their people to be too great for them (the dictators) to stay in power (paraphrase).
All of that having been said, I believe the US is headed toward war with thinly disguised glee on the part of our leaders, especially John Bolton.
One year ago we used a single MOAB bomb for the first and only time in combat. It is a conventional weapon which is six percent as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It blew an ISIS emplacement to smithereens.
One wonders whether all of our diplomatic posturing has simply been to gain time to build up a sufficient arsenal of these weapons to strike all of North Korea’s multitudinous artillery emplacements simultaneously. Seoul is 35 miles from the DMZ and within range of NK fixed and mobile artillery, totally apart from any nuclear weapons.
In the chess game of strategic warfare one hopes that a cornered Kim will not feel so threatened as to launch a preemptive strike. We could likely intercept his missiles, but Seoul would face annihilation from NK artillery
One of the purposes of serious diplomacy is to cause your adversary to trust that you will not strike first, so that the other fellow will not feel the need to strike preemptively, simply out of mistrust.
Our current bluster is extremely dangerous.
3
It seems to me NK is playing Trump like a fiddle...Trump very likely had "his" generals ramp up military threat on NK. NK plays nice for a bit to de-escalate the situation, then does a 180. Now Trump can't invade this nice guy's country. Once again Trump gets people's hopes up and then dashes them on the rocks. We should expect nothing else, no surprise here.
2
The North Koreans are using Trump's ego as a weapon against the US. Trump is so reckless, so desperate for a "win", and so inexperienced in the game of high stakes international politics that he is being played for a fool. He is SO desperate for a deal (got to get that Nobel Prize, right?) that he is going to make a deal that he would have lambasted Obama or any other US President for in years past.
Prediction: Trump will allow NK to keep nuclear weapons as long as they get rid of their long range ICBMs. He will agree to draw down US troop levels in SK. He will agree to dramatically scale back joint training exercises with SK. He will sweeten the deal by offering to shower them with cash. It seems obvious that he is willing to sell SK and Japan out as long as he can claim that he has "protected" the US from attack. His base will proclaim him an astounding negotiator regardless of how bad the deal actually is. He will then sit back and wait for his prize to arrive in the mail (it will be a very long wait.)
8
“This change of mind is more normal.” Gee, now why is that so familiar? We have two dangerous, volatile leaders engaged in a high stakes chess game, with each leader wanting to appear to be in control. This does not bode well for the outcome of any summit, especially when you have an architect of the war in the Middle East, John Bolton, whispering in the ear of Trump.
If the objective of this administration is to get nations to de-nuclearize, then Trump should not have reneged on the treaty with Iran. If avoiding war is the ultimate goal, then super hawk John Bolton should not have not been brought on board as an advisor.
We are indeed sending mixed signals when we conduct military exercises so near to the planned summit meeting with North Korea. They could have been postponed until after any agreement had been hammered out with North Korea. However, Kim-Jong-un changes his mind in whiplash regularity just as Trump does, so how can he be trusted to keep any agreement he signs? Conversely, how can Trump be trusted to not change his mind before the ink dries on any agreement? I think the ability to trust is in short supply whether you are dealing with Kim-Jong-un or Donald Trump.
To borrow from Dr. Seuss, we have a north going and south going Zax , each vowing not to budge. In the meantime, someone please keep Trump off Twitter, until he matter of whether or not there is going to be a summit with North Korea is resolved.
1
Bolton continues to botch any effort at diplomacy. He's making Pompeo look like the coolest head in the American stable. From all indications Pompeo is the best that this administration can muster. Maybe he can salvage something before serious disintegration after some promising overtures from the North.
4
This is why it is called diplomacy. A give and take, with experienced negotiators. Neither Pompeo nor Bolton are diplomats nor negotiators. North Korea has been through this for years. They aren't about to "give away" the farm at this point. Another reason it has taken so long to get anywhere with North Korea is that there are great agreements to be made with China or even Russia. We are not first in line.
3
Trump's expectations as the Great Negotiator are that he can pull his bait and switch tactics while he expects his opponent to negotiate in good faith. Then when the opponent uses the same technique we're crestfallen. Maybe Kim's regime studied Trump's business negotiation history.
Why anyone would think Kim would give up his nuclear weapons is puzzling. Gaddafi and Saddam are dead and the US is discussing regime change in Syria and Iran. Do we think that the North Koreans can't read English and that our intent hasn't been published in the news?
Nukes are Kim's ace in the hole, a position he is likely to keep, particularly with brutal hawks like John Bolton the apparent director of foreign policy.
238
How can anyone expect to really get anywhere with an agreement when dealing with a juvenile, unpredictable, erratic, untrustworthy psychopath? And then there's that guy in N. Korea.
1
This was entirely predictable.
North Korea is responsible for stringing other nations along, but Trump is responsible for counting his peace breakthroughs before they have been reached.
2
@NM -- Mr. Kim isn't stupid. Just as this president tore up a nuclear agreement that bound Iran from further nuclear proliferation, a future US president could also deem null and void any agreement made between these two hotheads. The US president showed Mr. Kim how easy it is to change a policy just because. The president is playing with marked cards and Mr. Kim knows it.
1
If I were Trump, I would offer, as a concession, to remove the American military from South Korea. This would force South Korea to take greater responsibility for its own security - which they are apparently willing to do. (It would also save us a great deal of money.) It would also be a huge "symbolic" victory for Kim and thus make it easier for him to get rid of all his nukes and associated apparatus without appearing weak.
If Kim threatened South Korea after the U.S. withdrawal, the power of a couple of aircraft carriers should be enough to dissuade him.
This entire thing is a made for TV farce. if NK "gives up" its weapons how do you ever prove that they really have none left? And you can never erase their knowledge of how to make more. And how does the US permanently "remove" military threats to NK when we will always have a military whose forces can be deployed at a moment's notice? Once again, Trump tries to appeal to the reality TV mentality of his base which will never result in coherent and effective policy.
2
Well there you have it. Many thanks to Trump and Bolton for showing us all how to make a deal. I am reminded that Bolton was part of the Korea team of one of those earlier administrations which Trump derides as having been duped by the Kims.
I am also reminded that Trump and Bolton have established that the only measure of success is North Korea’s entire nuclear capability, its equipment, it’s materiel, and maybe even its nuclear braintrust being removed to Oak Ridge immediately. Anything less is failure on the part of the President. I wish him well in that endeavor, but I suspect he will wind up being just like Obama.
Across the USA people cannot agree to implement even the most basic controls on guns, much less surrender them completely. Supposedly these guns are essential to "self defense".
Why then should it come as any surprise to these very same people that a sovereign government with nuclear weapons, paranoid about its self defense, is not going to just give them up?
8
After seeing Trump put Andrew Jackson's portrait as a background to honor Navajo Code Talkers and the U.S. history of subjugating and making Indian treaties only to break, I do not blame North Korea nor Venezuela for not trusting United States. I think Iran and most of Europe would see that logic, we shall see how that Special Interest religion helps spins things through their media ownership to rationalize the illogical.
5
I'm not surprised. After all, the US is increasing its military budget in order to upgrade weapons!
1
As the article states, this is par for the course for NK. I doubt this really caught administration officials like Bolton off guard in the least. Trump needs to not give an inch to this guy. Let Kim cancel if he wants. Better yet, use his games as an opportunity to require even more from NK, as their behavior suggests they are not serious. If bad behavior just costs them more they will be less likely to repeat it. The last thing to do is give Kim any concession for playing such games.
No, it's par for the course for Trump & Co.
Negotiations were going along swimmingly until Trump's military irresponsibly decided to resume exercises right off the DPRK's coast, and that screaming idiot John Bolton opened his big fat mouth and used Libya as an example of how the US treats other nations.
Kim isn't playing games. He's responding to US provocations.
2
Wow, that was a surprise, NOT. Since our "stable genius" thinks he can conduct policy by tweet with Hannity as his principle advisor while ignoring everyone else that has actually been working at a problem for decades, what else was to be expected?
16
To the DPRK; so many of us have feelings of repugnance towards John Bolton, and perhaps more than a few others who have seized the executive branch.
But life must go on. You cannot be transfixed by bombastic breaking news, self-serving executive tweets, or endless scandals.
DPRK, you have plenty to focus on. You do things no country on Earth currently does. The summit must go on; too many wait in trepidation. Show the world what you’ve got. Perhaps things will look rather different afterward.
Or in the view of less casual observers, perhaps not.
1
We are in no position to lecture North Korea, or anyone else for that matter. Maybe we will redeem ourselves in November, but I doubt it.
1
The surprise of the Century from Kim Jong un. At least the three bargaining chips were freed. The only thing about this childish behavior on his part is that he may trump a Trump...Neither men deserve more attention than the minimum.
3
Who knew that international relationships could be so complitcated?
5
At the risk of being redundant, is there anyone who did not see this coming? Maybe an 8 year old second grader. Any one who knows any history at all, especially any history of the Korean peninsula, could easily expect this would be the upshot of all this hyperbole by trump et al.
Who knew it could be so complicated? Everyone but the president.
6
Clearly government is too complex to be left in the hands of amatuers. American voters of all perspectives need to be made clearly aware of the need for professionals in government. The current belief that naive and inexperienced civilians can run a modern government has disasterous consequences. Let's hope that it doesn't take all out war in Korea to make this clear
210
Professionals have a nasty way of appearing elitist. You know, competent.
33
And yet, as it turns out, Professionals are competent.
Do you like your arrogant doctor, your snooty lawyer, your off-putting athlete.
They're all Professionals, they're all competent, they all know what they're doing, and they're who is needed to get the job done right.
But you've decided that because someone has risen to a level of success, they're arrogant. So...
Caveat: Except W Bush WAS experienced, having been governor of Texas and with an experienced father and brother, yet still stupidly invaded Iraq. Ditto for Cheney and Rumsfeld.
2
The United States just can't seem to learn from past experience. President Trump has turned over military decision making largely to his generals and doesn't keep up to date on what they are doing. This kind of thing happened in 1960 when President Eisenhower was scheduled to have a Summit meeting with Premier Nikita Khrushchev of the then Soviet Union. IKE had spoken with his military leaders about sending spy planes over the Soviet airspace long before that and then didn't follow up to see what they were doing. Thus was Francis Gary Powers, one of our spy pilots sent over the Soviet Union in a U2 airplane, and shot down by the Soviets. The incident destroyed IKE's credibility and ended the Summit. That foolery was committed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, a five star general, who was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe in WW2. A lot of the commenters here had two full sets of parents or grandparents because of how he ran the WW2 in Europe and he made mistakes. We just can't seem to learn from the past.
21
The Chinese analysts have this right. The shocking trend from NK was the decency of the diplomacy over the last few months and the conciliatory tone. What we are now seeing a a return to normalcy for the Korean Peninsula.
The US could easily reap quite a bit of international political capital from this roller coaster of a situation if we played our cards right and with tact. Given our recent withdraw from the Iranian agreement, I am predicting we will instead throw the proverbial deck at NK and walk away screaming.
28
I thought from the title that this article would say something about the Koreans backing out of the agreement with the Clinton administration. But no, seems everyone is trying to be optimistic and no one is willing to say that the Koreans haven't ever found an agreement in relation to their military that they are willing to agree to, ever.
13
The DPRK didn't back out of the talks with Clinton.
In 2002, George Bush upped the ante from what had been agreed upon between Kim and Clinton and sabotaged the negotiations.
The US refused to continue unless as a prerequisite Kim agreed to give up his nuclear development. Since that was a point to be negotiated, making it a precondition was a deliberate act to kill the deal.
It was all on Bush, not Clinton and not Kim.
6
Not surprising. After dumping the Iran deal, Kim knows the nukes will be his main leverage in any negotiation and he is not about to pre-empt that leverage anytime soon. Of course, the history of the US has been to disarm and conquer starting with our bad faith treaties with the Native tribes. Lately we have demanded disarmament, and attempted regime change to mostly ill effects in the Middle East and North Africa. North Korea IS a nuclear power-albeit a minor one, as is Pakistan, China, Israel, India and Russia as well as ourselves. This is the reality of today's world. The only reason we are even considering TALKING to Kim is because of NK nuclear reality, and not due to Trumps threats and bluster. Balance the power in Asia, and NK have nukes will be neutralized.
7
"Although Mr. Kim keeps his hard-line military under tight control, appearing weak in a confrontation with Washington could be devastating to his image among his soldiers, who consider the United States their archenemy."
Is this really true? I agree Kim and the KPA have a shared interest in preventing a fate similar to Libya. However, I'm not so sure the rank and file soldier believes the anti-US narrative. The possible devastation exists in hinting weakness from the Kim regime. The threat of getting thrown in a North Korean gulag is what keeps the KPA considering the United States their archenemy. If that threat becomes untenable for any reason, Kim could face an internal coup. At least from Kim's perspective, this outcome is just as bad as Libya's.
If Bolton and Pompeo are playing a double game, Kim is too. The rules are different though. Perhaps that's why everyone is frustrated.
2
Just curious, how would the rank and file N. Korean soldier know anything about the U.S. other than what Kim wants him to know?
1
“We came, we saw, he died.”
Gaddafi gave up his WMD weapons and programs, and ended up sodomized and dead in a culvert. And Hillary Clinton gleefully celebrated.
Let’s be honest. Why would any authoritarian give up WMDs?
The decision by Obama and Clinton to overthrow Gaddafi will continue to pay bitter dividends for decades to come.
34
Agreed. While we're being honest, let's also reflect on Saddam's fate at the hands of Bush, Cheney, et al., after giving up his WMD.
9
The same can be said of the Bush administration and Saddam. Saddam gave up his WMD program and was invaded and ultimately hanged. Iran thought they had an agreement until Trump tore it up. North Korea ignored the international community , built a nuclear weapon and ICBMs and they're being taken seriously. The lesson is that if you want to save your regime and deter the United States; you need nukes.
178
Let's be even more honest. The build up of nuclear weapons since WWII is largely because of the United States. Anyone with nukes right now either has them because they're our ally and we want them to target the rest of the world or they're scared of us and need the weapons to keep us permanently at bay. There is no negotiating with the United States unless you can potentially blow up one of our cities.
North Korea always said "denuclearization," not just that it gives up its weapons. That word always meant more than just the North gives us everything we want for nothing in return. It always was code for a whole deal. They'll give up their weapons in return for, and they'd said what. Now we act shocked they wanted it?
That's disingenuous by us, not by them.
Nothing changed. They just said what the code means, the same as it always meant.
As for its objections to the exercises impact on scheduling talks, this is a new round of exercises they never said was okay. They agreed to the last round of exercises, so we immediately started another one.
"Exercise" means in this case that we practice air attacks on the North.
Either we talk peace, or we act threatening, but not both. Even if acting threatening got us to the peace talks [a debatable point], we can't keep doing it during the talks and expect the response to be sweetness and light.
41
There seems to be Trump’s understanding that NK is about to collapse and any additional pressure would only precipitate that. Nothing further from the truth. First, they do function just fine despite difficulties, and second, China would do everything to prevent that from happening.
10
They have a huge standing army that could overrun South Korea in an instant without ever having to resort to nuclear weapons. We cannot and should not reduce or eliminate our preparedness in return for denuclearization. We should lift sanctions and build economic ties. What I can’t see is the North allowing verification. So unless Kim has decided he really wants to join the world community, in which case he has no reason to fear our military, this whole dance is a farce.
3
If the summit doesn’t occur, President Trump will still emerge much stronger than before.
He has demonstrated that he is willing to seek peace, but will remain firm in defense of U.S. interests. He has deftly handled complex negotiations not only with North Korea, but also South Korea, Japan, and China.
If the current negotiations fail, the world will see more clearly than ever that North Korea/China has no interest in peace. Any future sanctions or military actions by the U.S. will be understood in this context.
6
Nice that it's such an easy win for the US with any result, or at least that it appears that way to you. Boy, Trump really must be that master negotiator that y'all claim. A couple of insults here and there, and he's booked a win regardless of the result.
26
Uh, no. If one side gives up everything, and the other side nothing, then that isn't negotiation, it's capitulation and North Korea will not capitulate. The president has not done anything to signal he wants peace. He has threatened economic devastation and war. he thinks that will bring NK to heel. Apparently not.
30
I disagree with this.
Where is the footage of Trump shaking hands with Kim on the border? The photos of the happy smile when Trump, invited by Kim, hopped over the border?
No, this has been the greatest PR stunt ever by Kim and the NK regime, one that has left Trump with both egg on his face and nothing to show for it as he heads into midterms.
30
John Bolton's mention of Libya was absolutely the worst example he could have offered. Kim Jong-un has repeatedly invoked the Libya outcome as a reason for keeping nuclear weapons. If John Bolton was trying to induce Kim Jong-un to reverse course, he couldn't have done better. Given that John Bolton believes that a military option is always the preferred option for resolving disputes, maybe that was his intent.
147
If we assume Bolton is no fool (deranged, yes), then he apparently intended to poison the summit with Kim. Will Trump recognize that as back-stabbing? And why did Bolton feel the need to accelerate the collapse, when it was inevitable anyway? Is he a fool (pick 'em)? Analysis may not be able to discern a pattern in pure chaos...
6
Bolton did this deliberately, of course. He knew exactly what he was doing. Malevolent, destructive, aggressive.. and a psychopath. That's our Bolton.
1
Kim Jung-Un rationally and reasonably does not want to end up like the leaders of South Africa, Libya and Iraq after they gave up their nuclear weapons programs.
Mr, Kim rationally and reasonably wants to get away with and maintain a nuclear weapons program like Israel, India and Pakistan.
Mr. Kim rationally and reaaonably does not want to end up like the leaders of Iran.
Donald Trump has never been rational nor reasonable. Mr. Trump has never been brave nor honorable nor patriotic.
113
Trump broke our word with our Allies by backing us out of the Iran deal. (our word means nothing now.)
He acted against our own economic interest when he decided to start a trade war (ask the hardworking mid-west farmers who once supported him)
And now that "great" move is starting to look like a piece of swiss cheese as he realizes all the exceptions he needs to carve out.
And he repeatedly ignores the advice of the only grown up (Mattis) in the otherwise amateur hour WH when it comes to geo-politics, relying instead on the draft dodging Geraldo-look-alike (Bolton) who is eager to start shooting (and putting other people's kids on the line)
Kim is a mean, murderous, paranoid sociopath, but can you blame him (or anyone) for not wanting to commit to an agreement with a former reality star and serial bankrupt, who lies, acts always on impulse. and has a testosterone fueled advisor who whispers in his ear from a dated 1980s script ?
We need a new cast of characters.
63
But we HAVE to have the summit. Otherwise it will look as though the President of the United States is an idiot who has already cashed all his political chips for the cheap thrill of dumping a globally-valued treaty and snooting an unemployed Black man.
Mr. Kim, we are counting on you to do the right thing - America is at your mercy in this matter, and Mr. Trump is counting on your leadership and probity.
Excuse me while I go pound my head against a wall.
184
No-bel! No-bel!
NYT has no clue about anything. you can read facebook for a more accurate view of the world.. and thats sad!
1
Then plase do yourself a favor and stop reading it. Sad.
3
When two unpredictable prima donnas make plans together, the outcome will beunpredictable
15
Trump and his lick spittle lap dogs ran around declaring "Mission Accomplished" complete de-nuking of the North. It was obvious that Kim would never entertain such a move. To have anyone involved in this fiasco #1327 (just a guess), or any of the preceding fiascos, is being payed by our tax dollars and is speaking in our name is completely and totally unacceptable.
50
It's been obvious from the start that Kim Jong-un will never give up his nuclear weapons or at least what he calls his nuclear arsenal. He wants to sit at the table and be accepted as one of the big boys, but he's not. He is not a nuclear threat to the world and he shouldn't be given that level of respect. He's a tyrant who's playing nice now, but can change at any moment. Previous administrations and I don't mean just Obama have treated him as such. In Trump's quest to do something that no other administration has accomplished would be a commendable feat if it's on mutually acceptable terms. Treating NK as a nuclear power is not one of them. If we negotiate on Kim Jong-un's terms then we've already lost the negotiation, but a top negotiator such as Trump should already know that.
10
I think its pretty clear that Trump's negotiation skills leave a lot to be desired. This skill lives mostly in his own imagination. He's gotten where he is in business through bullying and lawsuits.
40
and inheritance
1
The DPRK is a nuclear power, and if not a threat to the entire world is certainly seen as a potential threat by South Korea and Japan.
By treating the DPRK with condescension and disrespect, breaking treaties left and right, invading sovereign nations, and supporting the far-Right Likud against the Palestinian people it's the United States government that is the greatest threat to peace in the world.
The entire world.
4
All this self-righteousness about North Korea having nuclear armaments while we ourselves have thousands of such bombs at the ready and multiple ways of delivering them. And this "peace negotiator," Trump, this supposed Nobel Prize candidate, wants to considerably further enhance our own nuclear capability at the same time he insists on North Korea giving up nukes. It would make absolutely no sense for any nuclear capable country to disarm under such circumstances. It doesn't seem very politically correct around here to say so, but in all honesty, North Korea would be crazy to disarm.
90
Actually, your point has a lot of support here.
Many of us recognize the reasonable political position of the DPRK on this issue.
We can abhor the dictatorship of Kim but still appreciate the logic of his actions in regard to the untrustworthiness of the Trump regime.
6
surprise...to...no one. Except to the guy who will say "Who knew that overturning 50 years of acrimony would be so hard?"
50
I get a kick out of Evans Revere's quote marks around the U.S. 'threat' as if it were all poppycock. The U.S. will never in a million years promise not to invade. Even though it's an entirely reasonable proposition.
11
Oh golly gee.
Does this mean that Donnie might not win the Nobel Peace Prize?
SAD.
56
Unsurprising news, for middle and high school teachers!
For those of us who have taught public middle and high school, Donald's, Kim's and John's behavior is something quite common regardless of family, gender, color, religion, and national origin. Why should Kim put down his chair if Donald won't put down his? How do we get John to stop egging Donald on? And all the while, the nice kids are being robbed of the learning time they want so they can have a future. What do we say to a parent who complains that their child can't learn because the Donny's, Kim's, and Johnny's teacher can't control the class? In democracy, we are supposed to control the class and we are not doing a good job by letting Donald, Kim, and John rob us of our time and our future.
32
Meanwhile, America’s own “Dear Leader” is still making his “Victory-Lap” basking in his admiring crowd shouting “Nobel, Nobel,…” Yeah, Trump thinks he earned one and it would be even better if the committee took away Obama’s and gave it to him - that would be the best.
My guess is that Kim is surrounded by seasoned advisors and working on a strategic plan to have all of Korea (both North and South) to ultimately be ruled by the Kim family forever. My other guess is that Trump is busy listening to his gut along with the “experts” on ”Fox and Friends.”
35
North Korea is a client of China. China's long-range aim is to remove American military presence from the Pacific Rim, and following that, American economic presence. Kim Jong Un's overture was just one more chess move in this twenty-first century version of the Great Game. And, sure enough, Trump took the bait and got suckered.
31
Are you upset that China hasn't become a US colony?
Why is the Iran-NK connection not mentioned in the article?
I think it would be important to highlight further unintended consequences (not by NK), aside from Trump's repeat loss of face. Diplomats could help, Mr. Bolton definitively not!
27
Alert the Nobel committee!
42
My proposal: North Korea gets rid of its nuclear weapons and Bolton shaves his mustache. The world would be a better place.
19
Kim showed the world what a literal fool Trump is. The great negotiator my foot.
The reality? Trump has always used his inherited wealth and the leverage it gave him to break contracts, stiff investors, bully and cheat small contractors, creditors, employees, women (including his ex-wives) and anyone else who criticized or disputed him. He abused our court system thousands of times in doing so.
He's finding that it's a lot different negotiating with persons who aren't buying his PR and who are not subject to being financially ruined by him through costly court proceedings. Kim saw this chump coming from a mile away.
He's a con man. He's a liar. He's a cheat. He's a thief. He's a bully. He's a fraud. That anyone would have believed his self-serving campaign lies to the contrary speaks volumes about them and none of it is good.
200
"But Mr. Bolton was more blunt, calling for “getting rid of all the nuclear weapons, dismantling them, taking them to Oak Ridge, Tenn."
Grinchlike Dr. Seuss character Bolton is clearly starring in his own storyland book. He would be well advised to read the history of North Korea, in which 20% of their people, men, women and children were killed by bombs in the Korean War. The North Koreans hear that history on a pretty regular basis because it is key to the Kim regime maintaining power through military might, requiring huge sacrifices by their people.
The chances of North Korea agreeing to send their bombs to America is zero. Iran's material went to Russia before the US breached the deal. Trust with the Trump Administration is extraordinarily low.
23
It is a serious miscalculation to think that Kim has made the North Korean economy a higher priority than retaining his nuclear capability, and is prepared to negotiate that capability away in exchange for "prosperity on a par with ... South Korea".
The single thing that has remained intact and unshakable for over 60 years, even in the face of erratic, unpredictable leadership is that North Korea portrays the U.S. as an existential threat. This is the basis of Kim's entire power structure, including justification for the terrible economic conditions in his country. Three generations of Kim rulers have made it dogma that the U.S. seeks the destruction of North Korea, and that it is the duty of all North Koreans to suffer economic hardship in order to ward off this threat. In this construct economic conditions remain secondary to the primacy of a nuclear force capable of defending the country.
It is preposterous to think that Kim would ever reverse these priorities. In what world would he go to his people and convince them that suddenly --- with absolutely no concessions from the U.S. --- it has become more important to abandon his nuclear program in exchange for South Korean-like prosperity?
This maneuver by Kim is a return to normalcy for him.
6
I agree.
The only reason for Kim to enter those talks is to test if he can get something for free. Meeting with the POTUS would be one of these things and a win for Kim.
I will not trust North Korea even if they agree to give up nuclear weapons. They will cheat! Also, China is a totally untrustworthy player here. Keep China far away.
4
China apparently shares a 900 mile border with NK, so keeping it far away may be a bit of a difficult task.
2
Meanwhile, save the ZTE jobs so we can get good loan rates for our properties.
Sad!
3
What fun!
12
If we had a real President, this little murderous dictator would not be under the impression that he is holding all the cards. trump is so desperate to have his own ego fed that I'm afraid he'll give anything to make this meeting happen.
80
Trump has much to learn from someone who is even a bigger hustler than he is.
80
After Trump tossed the Iran agreement, why are we surprised? Trump has cheated on his wives, his business associates and even the attorneys who have represented him in the past. (Remember the fake watch with which he rewarded Roy Cohn and the fact that his current pawn Cohen is going down the proverbial tubes.) Even his own kids shouldn't trust him. Look at the betrayals in the Kushner family as well as Trump's treatment of his own brother. And Trump doesn't trust either which is why he orders in his food from different places and hates shaking hands.
30
North Korea will NEVER give up its nukes...case closed.
24
More trump than trump
19
The leaders of China and North Korea, are playing Donald Trump like a rank amateur and showing his only negotiating skills are complete pandering and capitulation.
Donald Trump talked about jobs, but no one knew the his jobs program would be for China, and benefit the Trump family business organization, sleazy and corrupt!
Donald Trump was promoting himself for the Nobel Peace Prize, but after this debacle and the violence that he helped instigate in the Middle East by letting Bibi Netanyahu use him, I think Donald Trump is more inline for the Booby Prize.
200
Once again the country with the 597 BILLION MILITARY BUDGET wants to dictate how the rest of the world lives!!!
And the US is the only responsible guardian-the only nation on Earth who has used nuclear weapons on another country!!!
Sound normal???
36
Actual budget is well over $1 Trillion when ancillary costs are factored in.
2
So Kim Jung-Un meets with the South Korean President, gives up three American prisoners, talks about disarmament and agrees to meet with Trump, but he's suppose to be the bad guy.
I have no love for him but I can at least understand why the North Koreans are a little concerned after they have made an attempt to open up their country and South Korea and the United States still put on war games in the area.
They say the war games where already planned, well maybe in good faith we should have put them on hold pending the outcome of the June 12th talks.
Hopefully things can get back on track, but looking at Trump's past actions I have my doubts.
35
BTO
That is the most concise respopnce to this issue and these comments...right on
3
Imagine living in a regime where the 'supreme leader' changes his mind at the drop of a hat.
349
Hmm that sounds too familiar.
13
Just like living with trump
3
Sad!
3
So the $500 million "loan" didn't do the trick?
And all this after Kim was called an "excellent" person by DJT?
Can you believe the betrayal?!?!
11
This foolish president took the bait that Kim Jong-un dangled in front of him. Believing that he, with no foreign policy expertise or knowledge of the Korean peninsula’s decades-old military/political history, could do what previous presidents failed to do defies common sense. Mr. Kim is as ruthless as is his US counterpart. He was never going to give up his nuclear capabilities and the president was naïve to believe Mr. Kim. The 45th president crowed to the entire world that he was Nobel peace Prize-worthy because he would bring the North Korean enfant terrible to the negotiating table. This time though, the president counted his chickens before they hatched.
22
That the leader of this country didn't see this coming is testimony to his lack of willingness to ask the opinion of seasoned State Department officials. Oh wait, they all left.
Now State is run by a politician who is a sycophant for Donald Trump and lacks clear incite into International relations. He did not even know Kim Jun Ung surname.
We are being led by ameteurs.
96
Nobody knew diplomacy was so complicated! I mean, except for the hundreds of senior career diplomats that Trump fired....
265
Libya’s leader was killed by his own people after he had given up his nuclear weapons. I don’t think North Korea’s leader wants that outcome for himself. The United States is not a trustworthy adversary and Kim knows it. He would be foolish to give up his nuclear weapons without some kind of ironclad guarantee and the Chinese government to back him up. Like many of us Kim does not trust Trump.
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Libya's leader was killed by the rebels after the US-led air strike destroyed the Libyan military.
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Gosh, I NEVER saw this coming!!!
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Mr. Kim’s purpose was to establish global street cred. Whatever one thinks of him, he did that.
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While negotiating Kim is building H-bomb carrying ICBMs and increasing its arsenal. Trump is such a great deal maker.
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Is this a "tactic" on the part of North Korea ? Under the circumstances America and South Korea should have suspended the military exercises. Kim has made the most significant moves towards reduced tensions and peaceful solutions in the Korean peninsula in 50 years. The least the Americans could have done was suspend military exercises in a gesture of reciprocity and hope. Do you think for a moment this option was not discussed? And what do you thiink happened? Trump insisted they exercises proceed, and they did proceed, with South Korea a reluctant participant. Is this not a "tactic"? Of course it is. And a very stupid one at that.
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Trump/Bolton/Pompeo are convinced that “negotiations” from the position of power is the best way to go. Keep pushing until the other sides collapses. They have cornered themselves and did not even bother to suspend the military exercises. To regain the positive track of talks they have to offer something to NK. Otherwise we are back to square one.
Guess what, other side is not collapsing and reaching the deal is now that more difficult.
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This should be no surprise to anyone with prior knowledge of North Korean negotiating tactics. The only reason it seemed different this time was because Kim Jong-un was "playing" Trump. I believe this will continue throughout the process and the end game will leave us exactly where we were before. I can see no possible way that the North Koreans will give up the perceived security of their nuclear weapons. They have "arrived".
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With all due respect, North Korea (nor any other nuclear nation for that matter) does not have military bases IMMEDIATELY outside our borders hosted by our neighboring countries. Just something to think about. I know Kim Jun Un is not the most stable fella (from what I hear in our western media) and that he is does not play ball with the western world economically, however we must consider that the USA is a threat, especially since the "election" of the worlds most unstable leader. I must say I cannot blame him for not trusting the USA at this particular point in time. With that said, the world has never needed a strong diplomat as it does right now. North Korea, from what has been reported to us, is in desperate need to freedom and happiness. We must start with extending an offer for peace that is NOT backed with nuclear warheads and massive US military bases that border North Korea. It makes talks seem less like talks and more like "an offer that cannot be refused.
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Who would have honestly expected anything less from the dictator who runs North Korea? This is his m.o., and he has reverted to form. In the past, U.S. presidents would have capitulated to his last minute threats to derail the peace talks. This time around, Kim Jong-un is dealing with a president who won't back down. Like Ronald Reagan did with Gorbachev at the Iceland summit talks in the mid-80's, Trump will walk away and strengthen economic sanctions on North Korea. Play hardball, President Trump. It's the only thing the little dictator will understand. and he will fold.
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Actually it's quite the opposite: Trump played fast and loose and lost before the games began. The only thing his rash twitter "diplomacy" did was throw his opponents off momentarily, very momentarily. (It's hard to gauge the thinking of the thoughtless.) They've recovered and we've ceded all leverage. Now, from here on out, we'll be reacting to events rather than driving them.
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Wait...are you suggesting that the North/South Korea conflict can’t be solved with just a couple of tweets and a promised meeting? No one knew this could be so complicated.
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We should postpone indefinitely military exercises as a show of good faith. For decades the North Koreans have been very sensitive to what they perceive is a hostile act. It is very inappropriate to engage in these exercises at this time. The burden of responsibility is on us.
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North Korea is being reasonable, while the US is not. Removal of US troops should be the Quid Pro Quo for them giving up their Weapons but it is becoming clear that the us intends to stay in South Korea forever and ever, Amen. We never go home on our own, ever.
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This is the steep price this inept Administration is paying in its rush to invert the necessary diplomatic processes that must taken if any accord with North Korea is to have an opportunity for success. Negotiating with the North is not a reality t.v. spectacle but the ignorant, unstrategic Trump seems incapable of learning and then accepting this "reality". Are those the faint sounds of "Little Rocket Man" I hear in the background?
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Anyone surprised by this? It’s a negotiation tactic, not a playground; something Trump doesn’t get. Also, why would they give up their biggest lever (nukes), after seeing what happened to Gaddafi?
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Or seeing what happened with Iran.
Trump's vanity -fed by his new hawkish enablers- blinds him to the way forward on this problem, as on so many others.
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It's a two-way street. He probably sees what is going on in Israel, hears Nikki Haley characterize this as "restraint"; considers the backsliding on the Iran deal; complicity in the destruction of Syria, Yemen- it would give any thoughtful person pause to make a deal with such a government.
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From a rational statecraft perspective, I cannot find any reason for NK's behavior. Are they just trying to do hardball negotiation tactics (like, Kim is good cop, negotiator is bad cop)? It's not going to work for them. What do they truly want out of this? What leverage do they have? Do they think the US truly fears that NK will shoot a nuclear missle at us and that is our overriding negotiation concern?
“Do they think the US truly fears that NK will shoot a nuclear missle at us and that is our overriding negotiation concern?”
It should be your overriding concern. San Mateo is pretty close to North Korea.
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War Games in the middle of this. Really??
Old tactic? This story reads like a movie or TV show script. First the insults and provocations, then stony silence, followed by outreach, then extravagant promises of concessions. Next comes self-congratulations. Then, when everyone thinks this might be for real, we have more small provocations, new demands, retrenchment, etc. I'm not a betting man, but if I were, I'd put up the house that this meeting doesn't happen or, if it does, leads to nothing.
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It is a TV show starring Donald Trump.
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Isn’t this about the US/SK military exercises going on? Would it be that big a deal to call those off, at least until some headway is made with the North?
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US and especially SK should have at least postponed their joint military exercise till the Trump-Kim meeting. What is the point in having a treaty with NK if US continue its presence in SK and supply them with arms? NK can never (and should not) allow this. Look at all countries that made deals with US: latest is Iran.
I feel that the US arms industry is trying to scuttle this...
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Donald Trump approached this meeting recklessly, agreeing to it without talking to advisors or any North Korea experts in the U.S. (example: Bill Richardson). They would have warned him not to charge in & give Kim the legitimacy of a meeting w/o planning & pre-conditions. But Trump has destroyed the State Department & refused to appoint ambassadors (including to S. Korea) because Trump's fantasy is he's a genius whose real estate success (including 5 bankruptcies & 9 billion $ in debt) qualifies him to snap his fingers & solve problems career diplomats have found extremely complicated. Incredibly, Trump even foolishly mused in public whether he would win the Nobel Peace Prize after the summit. This is Kim Jong Un (& Xi Jinping) slapping the presumptuous Trump down. They doubtless are enjoying whittling the reckless, ignorant, conceited U.S. president down to size. Trump may still believe he, Jared & John Bolton can take on the world's problems alone. But he's getting schooled by these ruthless dictators who see Trump's just a wannabe. The first of many hard lessons for Donald J. Trump...
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Easy come, easy go. Let’s see what happens next.
After hearing, Mr. Bolton calling for North Korea to follow the path of Libya, how could anyone have expected anything else?
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Bolton is Bannon on steroids.
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Americans are dealing with a man who's word is useless, who's understanding of politics is dictatorial, who's ego takes precedents over his people's needs, who's understanding of historic norms is warped by his isolation, who's moral character is stunted by privilege, who's every move is applauded by a propagandizing media outlet and who's supporters are sycophantic toadies who can't contradict him without losing their positions. And that's not even taking into account the leadership of N. Korea.
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Rick Gage, You made the comments section worth reading. Thank you.
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Everything you've said there applies equally to the man the North Koreans are dealing with. Seems that Trump and Jong-In have lots in common!
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Are you referring to Trump or Kim?
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Didn't know we had so many patriotic American experts on North Korea, rushing to judge it's leader's motives. I'm wary of him too, but postponing the US-South Korean joint military"exercises" in the face of the US-NK peace talks seems like a no brainier, but then we have a genius as president. Besides, aren't 40 years of such exercises enough to be prepared for the next few months?
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"no-brainer"? Then certainly we have just the correct leader to decide matters,
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So the provocative military exercises by the US - conducted during the lead up to peace talks - aren't the problem. The problem is the country that the US president recently threatened to attack preemptively - a violation of international law, but you'll never read that truth in the US corporate-media.
The US corporate-media has consistently toed Washington's line on North Korea's diplomatic overtures: insincere words of a madman that hide a dark, sinister agenda.
The NY Times surrendered any hint of journalistic integrity when it reported, with a straight face, the Woodrow Wilson Institute’s Robert Litwak claim that the situation in North Korea is “the Cuban missile crisis in slow motion.”
The notion that North Korea has the technology to reach NYC with a missile is equally ridiculous.
Why does Washington fear the outbreak of peace on the Korean Peninsula? It's impossible to maintain an empire with diplomacy, and there is no money in peace.
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Kim has learned his lessons well — this is the classic Trumpification of a dispute — throwing an audacious counterpunch to derail negotiations.
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This just illustrates that Trump is no different than any other US president that tried to work with NK. Also, the exit from the Iran deal gives Kim more justification for intransigence.
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Seriously, is anyone actually surprised by this tactic?
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The summit negotiations have now begun. North Korea's goals are to denuclearize the south by getting the U.S. to withdraw its troops and its nuclear-armed naval vessels. The U.S. wants the reverse for the north to commit to fully denuclearize before even discussing substance like lifting sanctions. And, both parties want the stature that such a summit can provide. For Mr. Kim its meeting President Trump as an equal nuclear power; for Mr. Trump it's his big chance to show that "the Art of the Deal" is not fiction and to stake his claim to a Nobel Peace Prize. It's now up to Mr. Trump and his hawkish advisers to craft a response to keep the summit on track. The obvious response is to put all options on the table with no preconditions to the talks. However, it's important that both parties agree to what they mean by a denuclearized Korean peninsula if not yet on the timing to achieve it. The major question confronting the Trump team is: Does the U.S. agree with the north that it will have to withdraw militarily as part of such a deal or not? If the parties cannot agree on what the meaning of "denuclearization" is that may be a deal breaker and end the prospect of a summit or any success if it occurs.
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As a goodwill gesture these exercises should
have been postponed. There was no urgency.
Depending on the outcome of the meeting
on June 12th between our illustrious president
and Kim the decision on holding the exercises
could have been made. Posturing tough in
all circumstances won't elicit friendly response.
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Let's see, last week the United States unilaterally abrogates the Iran deal. This week North Korea reverts into its more traditional adversarial mode. I think the linkage is pretty clear.
Rather than reflecting confirmation bias in reacting to the North Korean reversion to form it would be more useful to consider whether this latest development does not reflect the Chinese reaction to last week's Iranian development. For the North Koreans, the path to meaningful relief to sanctions lies through Beijing, not Washington, and if the North Koreans can satisfy the Chinese (and the South Koreans) that their behavior is more reliable and predictable than the American conduct, they will have a pretty good 2018--and 2019 and so on. They don't need an agreement with the United States, not any time soon. They do need relief from the sanctions. Nuclear disarmament follows a Chinese timeline, not an American one. And on that timeline, the removal of American forces and minimization of American influence on the Korean peninsula comes first.
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Only a truly stable genius could have anticipated this turn of events.
So much winning!
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When discussing a Trump “Win“, always remember to include the adjective “Pyrrhic”.
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Man, did Trump just get played. First of all, no one anywhere gives up their nukes once they have them. No way. Even if they say they will, they will stash away what they can. These things are not very big.
Kim is smart, very smart, and ruthless. Unlike Trump's base, Kim remembers everything that Trump has said about him and North Korea. Kim doesn't behave like Trump's base. The months of threats and insults don't vanish in a tweet or one Fox News story.
Trump has presented himself as an enemy of North Korea. Trump has made dire threats to North Korea. Trump has shown himself to be unstable and unreliable to North Korea.
There is no way Kim will do anything that might help Trump get reelected. If a peace treaty was signed under Trump, that would help Trump get another term in office. Trump has shown Kim that his promises and treaties mean nothing. Why negotiate with someone who lies constantly and changes position from day to day?
Kim will now turn this Nobel craze into an embarrassment. Trump's base will brush it off and say, "Well, he tried." He will lose no support from them. The rest of us will know better. Trump blew it with his threats and insults and childish behavior.
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One more thing. The more Trump pushes a trade war against China, the more reason China has to cozy up to North Korea. The more trouble Trump makes for both, the more he pushes them into a close relationship. If Trump wants to corral North Korea, he needs China. That wont happen if Trump levies all these tariffs against China.
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Trump is no man. Trump is the one and only President of the United States. Trump acts and speaks for all Americans. Trump tweeting and speaking slurs is not fighting.
Science News presented an article on 05/10/2018 under I think Geology/Seismology about satellite data suggesting the mountain housing their nuclear test site lost 0.5 M following a 6.9 earthquake. This appeared to coinciding with test events if I recall.
The "desire" to eliminate the nuclear program may have been because they inadvertently blew it up. Mountains don't quickly loose 0.5 M in height other than by some catastrophic event (nuclear testing would suffice). Also it was not a loss at the surface but from subsidence (aka, subterranean collapse).
Politician can babel all they want but mother nature is large and in charge.
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