North Korea had a different take of what happened when President Donald Trump decided to end the Hanoi summit Feb. 28, realizing that dictator Kim Jong-un had no intent of de-nuking the Korean Peninsula. When Trump met with Kim June 12, 2018 in Singapore, Malaysia, Kim promised to work toward de-nuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. When that didn’t happen, Trump faced a mounting criticism for not getting the dictator to give up his nukes. Yet since the Singapore summit, Kim returned the remains to U.S. Korean War dead and stopped his nuclear testing and ballistic missile program. Working months on diplomacy before the Hanoi summit, Trump hoped for the best traveling 10,000 miles to test whether Kim was serious about meeting his commitments made in Singapore. Two days into the summit, Trump realized Kim was not serious about de-nuking.
Leading up to the summit, Trump made clear to Kim that de-nuking would result in an end to sanctions and firm U.S. commitment for economic development. When the summit ended, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said that its government was prepared for partial sanctions relief, only those that relate to U.N. Security Council sanctions related to basic food and fuel supplies. “Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that,” Trump said, despite Pyongyang’s insistence they only wanted partial sanctions relief. Whether the sanctions relief was full or partial, Kim was not prepared to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to take a nuke and ballistic missile inventory to begin the slow process of de-nuking. What Kim really fears is what seems to appeal to almost everyone, watching North Korea join the international community and develop economically.
Kim’s real fear has to do with his family pillaging North Korea for over 70 years, with an estimate wealth of $5 billion. No totalitarian dictatorship can survive the questions arising from more prosperity and openness, whether the country stays communist or not. Vietnam has a thriving economy with a government that incorporated free market reforms but staying a true to Ho Chi Minh’s communist principles. Kim couldn’t survive in that atmosphere because North Korea is set up on the single-minded cult of Kim’s dictatorship. So, when you consider Trump’s promise of developing the North Korean economy, it’s incompatible with Kim’s dictatorship. Kim has always said that his nukes are needed to deter a U.S. or South Korean invasion, something that hasn’t happened since the July 27, 1953 end of the Korean War. Kim’s fear relates purely to his loss of power.
As a tough negotiator, Trump’s used to walking away, when it’s clear there’s no basis for compromise. Judging by the cordiality between Trump and Kim, the failure to produce a deal in Hanoi has more to do with Kim sitting on the fence, not sure what side to get off. If he plays ball with Trump, it would be more difficult for Kim to block the Internet and other open lines of communication, letting North Koreans know there’s life after Kim’s dynasty. “May have lost his will [to continue] North Korea-U.S. dealings,” said Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son hui, puzzled by Trump’s abrupt end to the summit. Unlike other Foreign Ministries, the buck stops with Kim, not North Korea’s Foreign Ministry. Kim has the final word on all matters of state, realizing he’s the supreme leader showed no interest in giving up his nukes and ballistic missiles to get serious sanctions relief and economic help.
After criticizing Trump for what looked like making too many concessions to North Korea, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader (D-N.Y.) Chuck Schumer agreed with Trump’s decision to end the summit. Yet Pelosi and Schumer wholeheartedly backed former President Barack Obama’s Iranian Nuke Deal in 2015, when the U.S. government bent-over-backwards to get a nuke deal with Iran, even where it harmed U.S. and Mideast interests. Whatever misgivings expressed by the North Korean Foreign Ministry, there’s still plenty of opportunity to prove they seek peace by working over months for a deal mutually acceptable to both sides. Trump left Hanoi before signing a post-summit statement largely for the media, not wanting to give Kim any more free publicity. Democrats criticized Trump for meeting with the North Korean leader in the first place.
Ending the summit without fanfare, Trump reminded Kim that when engaging a U.S. president in summitry, he’d better be prepared for negotiation. Walking out of the summit, Trump sent a loud message: Don’t waste my time, unless you’re prepared to do business. Traveling to Hanoi, Trump showed that he’s willing to go the extra mile for peace, despite not getting the desired results. Keeping the U.S. and U.N. sanctions in place, Kim’s under more pressure than ever to make something happen. If he opts to exchange his nukes for ending sanctions and economic development, there are no guarantees the Kim dynasty will survive. Kim’s cult of military dictatorship most likely wouldn’t survive any measure of economic development in North Korea. Trump can only give Kim a path but, in the end, it’s about surrendering power, something Kim was not prepared to do.
