Canceling his June 12 summit with 33-year-old North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, 71-year-old Donald Trump reacted to North Korea’s KCNA official news agency calling Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy.” Since National Security Adviser John Bolton compared Kim to Libya’s Col. Muammar Gaddafi May 16, North Korea became more belligerent, hinting there’d be no nuclear disarmament in the upcoming summit. Trump realized that despite promising South Korea he was serious about denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, he faced growing threats to his totalitarian regime. Echoing Bolton’s statements, Pence said there were parallels between Libya and North Korea. “There was some talk about the Libyan model last week, and you know, as the president made clear, this will only end like the Libyan model if Kim Jong-un doesn’t make a deal,” Pence said.
Nothing worries Kim more than ending up like Gaddafi, torn limb-for-limb Oct. 20, 2011 after chased out of Tripoli Aug. 22. What Kim fears is that any attempt to relax his cruel repression on North Korea would result in a bloody coup. Kim’s nuclear weapons won’t help him cling to power if the North Korean people rise up to cast off the shackles of Kim’s dictatorship. Trump promised Kim if he disarms his nukes economic help to begin the long slog toward prosperity for the world’s 129 ranking economy with a nominal GDP of 12.38 billion, between Mozambique and Mauritius. Never in human history has the contrast been more glaring than North and South Korea. With a GDP of 1.38 trillion, South Korea ranks 11th in world economies ahead of the Russian Federation. Promising Kim prosperity was what prompted Pyongyang to get cold feet before the June 12 summit.
When Kim was invited by South Korea to join the delegation at the Peongchang Winter Olympics, North Korean athletes saw for the first time extreme contrasts between the two Koreas. If Kim enters as peace treaty with the U.S. and South Korea, he’d expose his population to the inescapable contrast between the two Koreas, where North Korea earns an average of $1,000 to $2,000 a year. Such poverty is inconceivable to South Koreans, earning an average of $30,563 annually. Whatever Bolton or Pence said to offend Pyongyang, the real reason Kim got cold feet was a fear of losing his grip on power. Trump said in a letter to Kim he “very much looked forward to being there with him. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement [calling Pence a ‘political dummy’], I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.”
State Department officials were especially concerned when a North Korean delegation did not show up in Singapore for advance meetings to map out the summit. Recent PR stunts showing North Korea destroying its irreparably damaged nuclear testing site was supposed to show the world Kim was ready to disarm. But when North Korean didn’t show up to greet the State Departments’ advance team spelled doom for the June 12 meeting. Once North Korea cancelled talks with South Korea May 16, it marked trouble for the Trump-Kim meeting. While there was no official word from Pyongyang, all communication stopped from North Korea to South Korea and the U.S. Grumbling started over U.S.-South Korean war games, prompting Trump to cancel nuclear-armed B52 bombers. North Korea continued to rail against Bolton’s comparison to Gaddafi’s Libya.
Whatever the excuses given by North Korea’s KCNA news agency, including Bolton’s remarks and U.S.-South Korea war games, the real reason Kim backed down was facing the very real prospect of losing power. Even if Trump agreed to let Kim continue to rule North Korea, if there were any real reforms, it was only a matter of time for revolution or assassination attempt by his own people. Kim knows that when Gaddafi lost power, it was due to a popular uprising supported by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other foreign powers. No one knows whether U.S.-China relations played a part in Kim getting cold feet. While Trump canceled the June 12 summit today, it was Kim that showed he didn’t trust that a peace treaty served his longevity as North Korean dictator. Any real progress in North Korea would be taken out on Kim’s repressive regime.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed disappointment in Trump canceling the June 12 summit. But with the North Korean advance team failing to the State Department delegation, it was clear that the dictator had a change of heart. Calling the decision “embarrassed and regrettable that the North American summit was not helped on June 12 that was scheduled. Denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and enduring peace are historic tasks that cannot be abandoned or delayed,” Moon said, mentioning nothing of North Korea breaking off all communication. Trump’s decision simply mirrored the reality that Kim had a sudden change of heart, blaming it on Bolton, Pence and U.S.-South Korea war games. When Kim realized that real change in North Korea would lead to revolution, he decided to back down. Trump wants a summit but only if Kim is willing to give up his nukes and ballistic missiles.
