North Korea

POSTED BY: THGRRI
UPDATED: Tuesday, August 25, 2026 23:22
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THGRRI

Friday, March 9, 2018 1:19 AM

THGRRI

Friday, March 9, 2018 7:09 AM

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un says he is eager to meet President Trump, and President Trump says he would meet Kim by May to achieve permanent denuclearization, South Korean official says.
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THGRRI

Friday, March 9, 2018 7:47 PM

This came out of nowhere. It appears Trump suggested to the South Koreans this should happen. He spoke to no one before hand. No advisors or anyone knowledgeable about North Korea to see if this was a good idea. He just set it up.

Bam, North Korea jumped at it. Trump had said the North had to denuclearize before talks. I guess he changed his mind.

Don't misunderstand, I want a miracle here. I am rooting Trump succeeds. I just don't' see it. He can't even negotiate successfully with a porn star. So far every foreign leader he has meet with has cleaned his clock.

T

SECOND

Friday, March 9, 2018 10:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:

Don't misunderstand, I want a miracle here. I am rooting Trump succeeds. I just don't' see it. He can't even negotiate successfully with a porn star. So far every foreign leader he has meet with has cleaned his clock.

A meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un could be a major opportunity—if Trump actually prepares for it.
By FRED KAPLAN, MARCH 09, 2018 11:44 AM
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/a-meeting-between-trump-an
d-kim-jong-un-could-be-a-major-opportunityif-trump-actually-prepares-for-it.html

The upcoming summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is, without question, a good thing. Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war, as Churchill said, and, until now, Trump seemed headed toward war.

But beyond this quite significant fact, expectations should be kept low.

One problem is that the two leaders are going into the meeting with conflicting premises. Trump thinks Kim is caving to the pressure of U.S. sanctions and threats. Kim thinks Trump is caving to the reality of North Korean nukes. Both men are probably right, to some degree. But it’s hard to see how these talks can produce a lasting peace if both leaders think they have the upper hand at the outset—and, therefore, think any deal must be struck on their terms.

That’s the other problem: Their terms—their definitions of a successful deal—are also in conflict.

Kim wants to be recognized as a world leader, a peer who can deter attacks on his homeland, and that means being a leader with a nuclear arsenal. Trump wants Kim to dismantle that arsenal.

Kim has already won half of the contest by getting the president of the United States to agree to meet him in the first place. To a degree that Trump may not realize, that in itself bestows upon Kim an international recognition and legitimacy that his father, Kim Jong-il, and his grandfather Kim Il-Sung both tried, but failed, to attain for decades.

This doesn’t mean Trump should have declined the offer. But now that the game is on, he has to train for it. Most presidents, faced with this risk and opportunity, would have their staffs spend the next two months preparing the best briefing book ever written. They would invite to the White House, for one-on-one chats or group seminars, every diplomat who has ever negotiated with North Koreans, the best historians who have chronicled U.S.–North Korean relations, the best regional specialists who have parsed the lessons to be learned from past talks.

Already the problem should be clear. Trump doesn’t read briefing books or books of any sort. Most of the diplomats who sat down with North Koreans did so under Democratic presidents named Clinton and Obama, who are all—the presidents and their diplomats—barred from this White House.

Even if they weren’t barred, Trump generally thinks that he has nothing to learn from history. As far as he’s concerned, his predecessors failed, so he has nothing to learn from their experiences. No one thought his “fire and fury” threats would produce results, and now look what’s happening. Trump’s refrain all along has been that he alone can do the things he sets out to do, and in his mind, the very fact of this summit probably affirms this belief.

And again, to some degree, Trump’s bellicosity probably did bring Kim to the table—but only to a degree. It’s worth noting that after Trump’s “fire and fury” remarks of last August, Kim tested three short-range ballistic missiles, fired two medium-range missiles over Japan, test launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting U.S. territory, and exploded a hydrogen bomb.

One could argue, in other words, that Trump’s growing bellicosity accelerated Kim’s quest to acquire a nuclear arsenal—to claim the status of a nuclear state—and that Kim unleashed his “charm offensive” only after the quest had been fulfilled. So let’s give both leaders “credit” for coming to this moment, even if they’re unlikely to grant it to each othe

THGRRI

Friday, March 9, 2018 10:49 PM

It's should be obvious to all Kim sees what's going on here with Trump. He knows like we do Trump is under tremendous pressure here. That Trump needs to steer the topic away from himself. I believe Kim is using this to his advantage.

So far Trump has handicapped America around the world by making one mistake after another. Is this his last stop?

T

SECOND

Friday, March 9, 2018 11:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
It's should be obvious to all Kim sees what's going on here with Trump. He knows like we do Trump is under tremendous pressure here. That Trump needs to steer the topic away from himself. I believe Kim is using this to his advantage.

So far Trump has handicapped America around the world by making one mistake after another. Is this his last stop?

State Department point man on North Korea, Joseph Yun, retired last Friday, March 2. If Trump is serious, he needs to call this man and ask him to come back to work until at least after the Trump meeting with N Korea.

The State Department’s point man on North Korea, Joseph Yun, will leave his post on Friday, amid glimmers of hope that Pyongyang might finally be willing to sit down for talks with Washington.

Yun, 63, is retiring as special representative for North Korea policy and deputy assistant secretary for Korea and Japan after more than three decades of service.

His departure reflects widespread frustration within the State Department at diplomats’ relative lack of power in the Trump administration, according to someone familiar with Yun’s thinking.

It will leave another gaping hole in the United States’ staffing on Korean issues. Washington has still not nominated an ambassador to South Korea, 13 months into the Trump administration. Victor Cha had been in the running for the job, but the administration abruptly scrapped his candidacy last month.

Yun confirmed that he would be retiring and that Friday would be his last day.

Yun, a strong advocate of engagement with North Korea, has been arguing in favor of dialogue with Pyongyang during the last year of increased tensions.

Still, his efforts to promote dialogue with North Korea have been stymied by a president who has threatened to rain “fire and fury” on the North Korean leader, whom Trump has derided as “little rocket man.”

Many Foreign Service officers have expressed frustration with the Trump administration’s unwillingness to listen to the State Department.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/state-department-point-man-on-north-korea
-joe-yun-to-retire-friday/2018/02/26/9a201136-1b62-11e8-8a2c-1a6665f59e95_story.html?utm_term=.8cf11fd83954

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

THGRRI

Friday, March 9, 2018 11:27 PM

I would love to hear Yun in his own words state if he thinks this was a smart move on Trumps part second. If he does stay he will have to parse his words carefully.

T

SECOND

Friday, March 9, 2018 11:42 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
I would love to hear Yun in his own words state if he thinks this was a smart move on Trumps part second. If he does stay he will have to parse his words carefully.

None of the credit should go to Trump. All of it should go to this South Korean, speaking at the White House, who talked Trump into doing it:

Remarks by Republic of Korea National Security Advisor Chung Eui-Yong
Issued on: March 8, 2018, 7:11 P.M. EST
www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-republic-korea-nationa
l-security-advisor-chung-eui-yong/

CHUNG: Good evening. Today, I had the privilege of briefing President Trump on my recent visit to Pyongyang, North Korea. I’d like to thank President Trump, the Vice President, and his wonderful national security team, including my close friend, General McMaster.

I explained to President Trump that his leadership and his maximum pressure policy, together with international solidarity, brought us to this juncture. I expressed President Moon Jae-in’s personal gratitude for President Trump’s leadership.

I told President Trump that, in our meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he is committed to denuclearization. Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue. And he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible.

President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization.

The Republic of Korea, along with the United States, Japan, and our many partners around the world remain fully and resolutely committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Along with President Trump, we are optimistic about continuing a diplomatic process to test the possibility of a peaceful resolution.

The Republic of Korea, the United States, and our partners stand together in insisting that we not repeat the mistakes of the past, and that the pressure will continue until North Korea matches its words with concrete actions.

Thank you.

END

7:13 P.M. EST

THGRRI

Saturday, March 10, 2018 3:37 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by THGRRI:
I would love to hear Yun in his own words state if he thinks this was a smart move on Trumps part second. If he does stay he will have to parse his words carefully.
None of the credit should go to Trump. All of it should go to this South Korean, speaking at the White House, who talked Trump into doing it:

Remarks by Republic of Korea National Security Advisor Chung Eui-Yong
Issued on: March 8, 2018, 7:11 P.M. EST
www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-republic-korea-nationa
l-security-advisor-chung-eui-yong/

CHUNG: Good evening. Today, I had the privilege of briefing President Trump on my recent visit to Pyongyang, North Korea. I’d like to thank President Trump, the Vice President, and his wonderful national security team, including my close friend, General McMaster.

I explained to President Trump that his leadership and his maximum pressure policy, together with international solidarity, brought us to this juncture. I expressed President Moon Jae-in’s personal gratitude for President Trump’s leadership.

I told President Trump that, in our meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he is committed to denuclearization. Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue. And he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible.

President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization.

The Republic of Korea, along with the United States, Japan, and our many partners around the world remain fully and resolutely committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Along with President Trump, we are optimistic about continuing a diplomatic process to test the possibility of a peaceful resolution.

The Republic of Korea, the United States, and our partners stand together in insisting that we not repeat the mistakes of the past, and that the pressure will continue until North Korea matches its words with concrete actions.

Thank you.

END

7:13 P.M. EST

They way I hear it Trump was not supposed to meet with the South Koreans until the next day. That when Trump heard they were there attending a different meeting he went to them. He is desperate to change the news cycle IMHO. At any rate, I hear Trump is now backing up a bit.

President Trump is open to meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss his nuclear program, but only under certain conditions, the White House said Friday.

"We’re not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-essential-washington-updates
-white-house-puts-conditions-on-trump-1520628277-htmlstory.html

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6IXSTRINGJACK

Saturday, March 10, 2018 4:09 AM

lol. you guys are a constant source of amusement. Thanks for the laughs. :)

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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