WE hope recent events in Washington, DC, will not set back the coming talks between United States President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un.
President Trump had agreed to the meeting last March 7 after the North Korean leader sent a message to him, through South Korea President Moon Jae-in, that he wanted to meet and that he was committed to give up his country’s nuclear weapons. Trump had accepted the invitation, a major breakthrough after years during which the two nations had exchanged threats of nuclear violence.
The news from North Korea is good; during a visit to Beijing, Kim Jong Un pledged he would denuclearize the Korean peninsula.
But in the US, President Trump has replaced Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who had long been pressing for diplomacy on North Korea, which Trump had publicly mocked. The new secretary of state is former CIA director Mike Pompeo.
Trump then appointed a new national security adviser – John Bolton, long known as a “hawk’s hawk” or “super-hawk” in US foreign policy. In 2003, on the eve of talks on North Korea’s nuclear program, Bolton had called Kim Jong Il, the previous president and Kim Jong Un’s late father, a “tyrannical dictator.”
In its long-standing dispute with North Korea, the US has been seeking the help of North’s principal ally, China. Last week, however, Trump announced tariffs – up to $60 billion – on Chinese goods entering the US. China vowed to retaliate by levying additional duties of up to $3 billion on its imports of US goods. Trade wars benefit no one, Beijing responded, but said it is not afraid of engaging in one.
The US and China are already at odds over China’s claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea versus the US determination to have its navy navigate its waters under the flag of freedom of navigation. Now there is this impending trade war. China is not expected to be of much help to the US in the coming talks with North Korea.
In the two months before the expected US-North Korea summit, preliminary talks will be held by representatives of the US, North Korea, and South Korea in Finland. South Korea is hopeful that after Trump and Kim meet, a three-nation summit including South Korea will be held to put an end to the state of war that continues between the two Koreas since the Korean War of 1950.
The world’s hopes remain high despite seemingly negative developments in international affairs, particularly as they affect the US and China. Even with “hawks” replacing “doves” in Trump’s inner circle, even without the active assistance of China, the US and North Korean leaders should welcome this opportunity to meet and come to an agreement that will mean peace not only for their two nations but for the region and for the whole world.
