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North Korea-U.S. Singapore Summit -- some progress
by Jake Johnson via jon - CommonDreams Tuesday, Jun 12 2018, 6:57am
international /
prose /
post
Some perspective is required. Consider how important the prospect of success/PEACE on the peninsular would be to an ego like Trump's. Instead of going down in history as one of the world's most inept and ignorant political leaders, he could instead go down in history as achieving Peace with North Korea, something no president before him imagined was possible. Indeed, it would be an outstanding achievement if Trump succeeded. However, his handlers are not yet ready to retreat from their impossible unacceptable demands for any leader, complete de-nuclearisation with constant monitoring/verification -- and after that is confirmed goodbye Kim and his hierarchy, similar to Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein -- America has PROVEN it CAN'T be TRUSTED and Kim is fully aware. No doubt achieving anything constructive -- the cessation of joint S. Korea-U.S. war games and military exercises -- is a good start but so many factors are against complete success. One can only hope that Trump is so obsessed with being something more than an idiot he will override people like John Bolton, Pompeo, the generals and other neocon war hawks -- we will see.
Following four hours of talks behind closed doors with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced during a press conference that America will halt its "provocative" joint war games with South Korea in return for the North's commitment to starting the denuclearization process "right away."
"I believe this is a big prelude to peace," Kim told reporters on Tuesday. "There will also be big challenges ahead but I'm willing to do this."
Trump's decision to suspend military exercises on the Korean Peninsula—which have long been perceived by the North as a simulation of all-out war—was applauded by independent analysts as a crucial step toward lasting peace in the region.
Tim Shorrock, a Korea expert who is in Singapore for the historic summit, called the end of U.S.-South Korea war games a "huge deal."
Tim Shorrock @TimothyS
Interesting press conference - one hour! Trump seemed very enthused about his summit with Kim. HUGE deal that the US is ending the joint US-South Korean military exercises. He even called them "provocative." Probably what Pompeo meant yesterday by "unique' security guarantees.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, whose "masterful diplomacy" laid the groundwork for peace talks even as Trump and his advisers continued to hurl threats and insults, applauded signs of significant progress in U.S.-North Korea relations in a statement on Tuesday.
"I join all the people in ardently aspiring for the success of the summit to bring complete denuclearization and peace to us and usher in a new era among the two Koreas and the United States," Moon said.
As Tuesday's summit in Singapore came to a close, Trump and Kim signed and released a joint statement affirming their commitment to "the establishment of new U.S.-DPRK relations and the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula."
While acknowledging that the document is vague and "thin," Christine Ahn, founder of the peace group Women Cross DMZ, applauded the joint statement as "bold in reorienting relations between historic adversaries."
"The compass has been set, it's time to ensure that these principles are followed through with concrete action, and this is where it is crucial for civil society, especially women's groups, step in," Ahn concluded.
Creative Commons attribution applies.
See also:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/12/trump-nuclear-north-korea-kim-jong-un
Follow link below for additional tweets and video information:
https://tinyurl.com/ycs6dj23
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