With 33-year-old North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un visiting China for the first time since taking over after his father’s death Dec. 17, 2011, the time looks right for a South and North Korea summit. Kim’s timely meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing this week was supposed to show solidarity with China ahead of what promises to be tough negotiations to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Word from Beijing on China’s official Xinhua New Agency indicates that Kim is serious about nuclear disarmament, despite boasting about being nuclear state with Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles [ICBMs]. It wasn’t that long ago when North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho told the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 23, 2017 that it was “inevitable” North Korean missiles would hit the United States. Since North Korea’s nuclear threats, President Donald Trump has put Kim on notice.
Criticized by the media for provocative rhetoric, 71-year-old President Donald Trump told North Korea Aug. 8, 2017 that it faced “fire-and-fury” continuing to make nuclear threats against the United States. Trading barbs with Kim in 2017, 2018 has shown a different attitude from Pyongyang. Instead of detonating nuclear bombs or launching ballistic missiles, Kim showed restraint, seeking to participate in the 2018 South Korean Winter Olympics. When North and South Koreans marched together under one flag in the opening and closing ceremonies, there was diplomatic progress underway. South Korean President Moon Jae-on knows that denulcearization of the Korean Peninsula is the only condition under which Trump would consider meeting with Kim in a future summit. South Korean diplomats hope to help Kim save-face in future talks with Trump.
Trump’s willingness to use force, no matter what the consequences, to disarm Kim of his nukes and ballistic missiles has brought Kim to the bargaining table. While there are skeptics of Kim’s intentions, his meeting with Xi proves that he’s serious this time about nuclear disarmament. China’s official newspaper wouldn’t report about Kim’s willingness to disarm unless there was some validity. North and South Korean officials confirmed that Moon and Kim would meet in Panmunjom village in the demilitarized zone April 27 to set the groundwork for an eventual Trump summit perhaps in May. Meeting with the North Korean delegation March 28, leader of the North Korean delegation Ri Son gwon said the meeting was aimed at preparing the meeting with Moon and Kim April 27. Ri acknowledged improved bilateral relations with South Korean over the last three months.
Kim seeks reassurances from Seoul that they’ll stop war games with the U.S. if he’s willing to let the U.N. nuclear watchdog group the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] to disarm the North Korean nuke and ballistic missiles program. Whether Trump agrees to stop joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises in anyone’s guess. Kim has stated openly that he needs his nukes and ballistic missiles to stop a U.S. invasion. Yet since the Korean War ended July 27, 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty, there’s been no U.S. invasion. There’s no doubt that Xi discussed nuclear disarmament with Kim when they met in Beijing this week. “If there is reasonable chance of talks with U.S. going ahead, that will help inter-Korean summit go well because the North Korean side will want to show a convivial side,” said Christopher Green, senior adviser on the Korean Peninsula for the Crisis Group.
Sending Beijing’s top diplomat Yang Jiech to Seoul to brief South Korean officials on the Kim, China sees positive developments in Xi’s meeting with Kim. If there’s been any consistency in the message to Kim, it’s that the world community expects Kim to disarm his nukes and ballistic missile program. Chinese officials said Kim was “committed to denuclearization,” but said it would be contingent of reassurances from the U.S. and South Korea. Kim said he expects “progressive and synchronous measures fore the realization of peace,” hinting he would expect the U.S. withdraw its forces from South Korea. If Trump gets any whiff of Kim’s reticence to disarm, no summit will take place, regardless of how much the international community wants to avoid war on the Korean Peninsula. Trump seeks nothing short of disarming North Korea’s nukes and ballistic missiles.
Preparing the groundwork for a North Korean-U.S. summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in hopes to send an unambiguous message to dictator Kim Jong-un: Disarm your nukes and ballistic missiles or face the full force of the U.S. military. Without a commitment from Kim to denuclearize without preconditions, it’s unlikely Trump would meet with the erratic dictator. Kim followed his father’s footsteps riding his luxury train to Beijing eating lobsters and sipping on French champagne. While North Koreans eat out of trashcans, Kim lives the highlife, something not overlooked in summit preparations. “Xi would not grant this meeting unless the Chinese were genuinely concerned about the summits to come and wanted some kind of role to play,” said Professor Robert Kelly, Pusan National University in Seoul. Like Trump. China wants Kim to disarm his nukes and ballistic missiles.
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