Trump risk weighs on Korea peace drive
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sit down for a dinner during the second U.S.-North Korea summit at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam Feb. 27, 2019. AP-Yonhap
By Kim Yoo-chul
By Kim Yoo-chul
Domestic political problems facing U.S. President Donald Trump could negatively influence talks with North Korea as well as inter-Korean relations, analysts in Seoul said Tuesday
They said the failed summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un underscored the high risk of “top down” diplomacy, noting that when this collapses, there is no higher authority to take over and offer a compromise.
The stakes of the Hanoi meeting had been elevated, and much has been lost in its failure they said, with some adding that a growing “Trump risk” was weighing on the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
President Moon Jae-in was convinced that the second summit between Kim and Trump would bring “at least” an agreement on partial easing of economic sanctions alongside denuclearization steps. As such, Moon was ready to announce new inter-Korean initiatives.
But, according to a Trump tweet, an almost clinched historic deal fell through, in part, because of the congressional testimony being given by Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer and fixer.
“For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the 'walk,'” Trump tweeted. “Never done when a president is overseas. Shame!”
Trump could have agreed to a small deal, with the North closing a few nuclear sites in return for the lifting of some sanctions. However, analysts say the Cohen issue pushed Trump to get a “big deal.”
“Trump wanted to cover up controversies surrounding him by signing a deal with Kim Jong-un. But the plan was scrapped mostly because of the Cohen issue, I think. Trump's decision, no deal is better than a bad deal, is getting support from both Republicans and Democrats, which is just a bad scenario for South Korea,” said Park Hui-rak, a professor at Kookmin University.
US President Donald Trump speaks during an event in honor of the 2018 Division I FCS National Champions: The North Dakota State Bison in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Mar. 4, 2019. AFP-Yonhap
The ending of large-scale military exercises between South Korea and the United States was seen as a “goodwill gesture” to keep nuclear disarmament talks with the North alive. But the decision was made unilaterally by Trump rather than in consultation with Seoul.
“The decision may hurt South Korea's military readiness and that would become another point of debate for conservatives in South Korea,” said Song Dae-seong, a former chief of the Sejong Institute, a local think tank.
In a separate tweet, Trump said, “You know, the military exercises, I gave that up quite a while ago because it costs us $100 million every time we do it.”
The United States wants North Korea to release a detailed timeline on how and when it will dismantle its uranium and plutonium enrichment facilities, verifiably and permanently.
Regarding reports that Trump asked Kim to dismantle a hidden uranium enrichment site at Bungang, near the North's Yongbyon nuclear facility, during the summit, the defense ministry here declined to confirm this.
Lee Do-hoon, a senior nuclear negotiator for Seoul, left Washington early Tuesday to meet his U.S. counterpart Stephen Biegun over impending issues relating to the nuclear disarmament talks. Lee's visit comes a few hours after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was hopeful that the United States would send a delegation to North Korea in the coming weeks.