Launching a rocket and tactical weapons test, 35-year-old North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un pushed 72-year-old President Donald Trump to make more concessions before the next round of high-stakes diplomacy or face more nuke and Intercontinental Ballistic missile tests. Kim promised Trump at the July 12, 2018 Singapore, Malaysia summit that he’d stop nuke and ballistic missile testing. While Kim didn’t violate the technical nature of that promise, testing a new generation of rockets and tactical weapons, violated the spirit of the Singapore summit. Kim never agreed to what he meant by denuclearization, leaving the discussions vague, something insisting that Trump remove all nuclear weapons from South Korea, before he considers dismantling existing nuclear and ballistic missile stockpiles. Testing new rocket and tactical weapons, Kim ‘s back to his old brinkmanship with Trump.
Trump walked out Feb. 26, 2019 of the second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam when it became clear Kim had no plans to give up hi nukes and ballistic missiles. Kim said he would have negotiated before Trump walked out of the summit. Riding high expectations, Trump wanted to teach Kim a lesson that you don’t mess around with the author of the 1987 best-selling book, “The Art of the Deal.” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry warned April 30 of “undesired consequences” if the U.S. doesn’t pivot, taking a new course in further summit with North Korea. Kim asks for sanctions relief before he gives up it nukes and ballistic missiles, something Trump and his 56-year-old Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refuse to do. Branding Pompeo as disrespectful to Kim, North Korea wants to negotiate directly with Trump, sparing him the indignity of dealing with hard-nosed Pompeo.
Meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok April 24, Kim hoped to put more pressure on Trump to end sanctions. Putin already signed on to U.N. sanctions, urging Kim to give up his nukes and ballistic missiles before expecting an end to U.N. sanctions. Trump’s approach in Singapore and Hanoi was to offer Kim economic development, including U.S. foreign aid, in exchange for Kim starting the process of disarming nukes and ballistic missiles. “Kim Jong-un fully realizes the great economic potential of North Korea & will do nothing to interfere or end it,” Trump tweeted, offering Kim economic aid in exchange for his commitment to disarm his nuke and ballistic missiles. Putin has nothing to offer Kim in the way to economic development in North Korea. “He also knows that I am with him & does not want to break his promise to me, a deal will happen.”
Kim still believes that only overwhelming strength via nuclear weapons is the only thing Trump relates to. “The iron truth that genuine peace and security are ensured and guaranteed only by powerful strength,” said KCNA, North Korea’s state-run news agency. Kim promised in Singapore to move toward “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” Kim wants the U.S. to offer security guarantees before it starts the process of disarming nukes and medium and long-range ballistic missiles. Kim thinks he can coerce Trump and Pompeo into making concessions if he started testing nukes and ballistic missiles. Trump once called Kim “little rocket man,” Sept. 23, 2017, at a time when Kim was firing medium-range nuclear missiles into the Sea of Japan. Kim feels frustrated with the lack of progress in getting sanctions relief from Trump without committing to disarming.
Kim doesn’t see testing tactical weapons and projectiles as violating the Singapore and Hanoi summits. “I want to ensure the world knows it is upset with the U.S. hard-line stance on denuclearization and will not bow to external pressure,” said Scott Seaman of the Eurasia Group. Kim wants the U.S. to fashion a peace treaty to replace an old armistice, ending the Korean War Aug. 2,7, 1953. Ankit Panda of the American Federation of Scientists believes Kim didn’t violate the Singapore agreement firing off rockets and testing tactical weapons. Panda believes it “does not violate Kim Jong –un’s self-imposed missile testing moratorium,” applying to ICBM testing. South Korea’s Blue House took Kim’s recent testing more seriously, “greatly concerned,” calling it a violation of the moratorium on nukes and ballistic missiles. South Korea sees Kim’s recent tests heading the wrong direction.
Kim’s testing new tactical weapons coerces Trump to make concessions on North Korea’s sanctions. Trump and Pompeo don’t want Kim to threaten U.S. with “dire consequences” should the U.S. not pivot before the next summit. South Korea showed “visible, concrete and substantive” steps toward denuclearization. South Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui warned Washington about an “unwanted outcome,” should the U.S., not offer concessions on sanctions at the next summit. Trump and Pompeo have shown no signs pivoting to a peace treaty to officially end the Korean War. Kim wants the U.S. to show more compassion for the sake of world peace. Unless North Korea and the U.S. get on the same page soon, Kim’s likely to continue shooting off tactical nukes and ballistic missiles. Trump wants to see Kim fulfill his promise to disarm before making any concessions.
