North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un reportedly ordered executions by firing squad of four Foreign Ministry officials after 72-year-old President Donald Trump walked out of the Hanoi, Vietnam summit Feb. 28. While not yet independently verified, the executions are consistent with Kim’s propensity to vaporize anyone in his regime suspected of unauthorized activity. North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said that the four officials illegally sold state secrets to Washington, something also not confirmed by anyone. Trump walked out of the Hanoi summit because Kim refused to discus disarming his nuke and ballistic missile program, something he promised to do June 12, 2018 at the first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore, Malaysia. Promising to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in Singapore, summit, the world hoped for more progress in Hanoi.
Kim thought he was bullied when Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted that the U.S. would not discuss sanctions relief, currently crippling the North Korean economy, until Kim commits North Korea to disarming his nukes and ballistic missiles. Today’s disclosure that Kim executed by firing squad at least four diplomatic personnel, including a diplomat stationed in Hanoi, shows Trump Kim’s true character. Kim used anti-aircraft guns Feb. 23, 2017 to execute five North Korean officials for alleged acts of treason. “Kim is a person I’ve gotten to know very well, and respect and hopefully, and I really believe over a period of time, a lot of tremendous things will happen,” Trump said today, not realizing Kim’s extraordinary ruthless, especially for anyone questioning his power. Kim met today with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivosto, Russia.
Frustrated by U.S. sanctions preventing Kim from getting oil and other vital supplies into North Korea, Kim hoped to get help from Putin. Putin signed onto strict U.N. Security Council sanctions to discourage Kim from testing nukes and firing medium range ballistic over Japan. Kim wants Putin to apply pressure on Trump to turn back U.N. and U.S. sanctions, enabling North Korea to improve its battered economy. Executing member of his government is standard procedure for Kim, who tolerates little when it comes to diplomatic failure. When Trump walked out the Hanoi summit, KCNA blamed it on Trump, insisting that Kim would have made more concessions on his nuke and ballistic missile program. Reports following the summit indicated that Trump, not Kim, walked out of the summit prematurely but it’s possible Kim actually blamed his foreign ministry.
Meeting with Putin in Vladivostock today, Kim looks for any economic help he can get from Russia, at a time when Russia, too, suffers from U.S. sanctions, largely related to his 2014 invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. With U.S.-Russian relations still at a low-ebb, especially over accusations of meddling in the 2016 presidential election, Trump has little leverage with Putin or vice versa. Talking about another summit with Kim before the next summit ends like Hanoi, Trump and Pompeo should shift gears, putting a peace treaty as a top priority over demanding Kim give up his nukes and ballistic missiles. Getting a signed peace treaty out of the next summit would pave the way for more confidence-building steps leading to Trump’s goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Yet paying attention to Kim’s recent executions gives Trump a brutal reality check.
Trump may “think North Korea has tremendous potential” but he must face the music about the brutality of Kim’s regime. Kim thinks his nukes and ballistic missiles are his nation’s biggest accomplishment, keeping enemies like the U.S. from invading. A reality check of history since the July 27, 1953 end to the Korean War confirms that the U.S. or its ally South Korea has not attempted any coup d’etat in 66 years. Kim insists his nukes and ballistic missiles are there to prevent a U.S. or South Korean invasion. Kim heard in Singapore and Hanoi that the U.S. would provide protection to North Korea against any possible invasion in exchange for reducing stockpiles of nukes and ballistic missiles. Kim wanted no part of disarmament unless the U.N. and U.S. ended all economic sanctions. Watching Kim execute members of his foreign ministry proves he’s capable to doing anything.
Trump’s strategy of holding out a carrot to Kim in exchange for disarming his nukes and ballistic missiles hasn’t worked. Holding a new summit will get nowhere unless Trump and Pompeo are willing to offer some sanctions relief in exchange dismantling nuke and ballistic missiles. Changing tactics, Trump and Pompeo should work on developing a peace treaty before discussing denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Kim likes Trump’s friendliness but ultimately wants sanctions relief to get North Korea’s economy out from underneath today’s crushing restrictions. Putin’s in no position to bail out Kim, especially with the Russian economy struggling to keep its markets intact. Kim’s ruthlessness was on full display watching members of the foreign ministry executed just because Kim says so. Knowing Kim’s brutality should remind Trump with whom he’s dealing.
