I think this is a sign of just how off balance President Trump has the Kim regime right now, that Kim Jong-un had to have an emergency summit with Moon Jae-in just to figure out how to move forward:
President Moon Jae-in has held a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met for the second time in a month on Saturday, holding a surprise summit at a border truce village to discuss Kim’s potential meeting with President Donald Trump, Moon’s office said.
Kim and Moon met hours after South Korea expressed relief over revived talks for a summit between Trump and Kim following a whirlwind 24 hours that saw Trump cancel the highly anticipated meeting before saying it’s potentially back on.
Moon, who brokered the summit between Washington and Pyongyang, likely used Saturday’s meeting to confirm Kim’s willingness to enter nuclear negotiations with Trump and clarify what steps Kim has in mind in the process of denuclearization, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification. [Associated Press]
I can only imagine what they talked about, but I would not be surprised if the conversation included the fact that the usual playbook is not working on President Trump. The past strategy of the North Koreans giving little to nothing in return for massive aid and lifting of sanctions is clearly not going to happen this time. The Trump administration has made it pretty clear that real denuclearization is what will happen if a deal is to be done.
By the way does anyone want to provide their own caption of the below picture?:
In this photo provided by the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold each other before parting after their second summit held at the border village of Panmunjom on May 26, 2018. (Yonhap)
Photo caption: “This is not how I wanted to meet darling but I am so glad to see you again.” You can figure out who said what to whom.
J6Junkie
5 years ago
“My bed has been so empty without you.” – could go either way.
ChickenHead
5 years ago
“I like a meaty little twink. You will look so nice in a sailor suit.”
“You are one sweet old chickenhawk.”
Liz
5 years ago
“Want to go to garage and do karate?”
“I’m not so ronery anymore”
kangaji
5 years ago
Mun is holding up Kim, like Kim is his baby. In the handshake, Mun is pulling Kim’s hand into Mun’s personal space, but Kim is keeping distance and staying in his personal space.
Jon Paul
5 years ago
“What do I feel down there? Are you really that happy to see me?”
“Ah, I felt you first, bro. Give me a big one.”
“Okay, fine, but no tongue, right?”
More seriously, this is about Moon wanting to create first steps to a “confederation.” That won’t work without joint defense, and the reduction to nothing of USFK to very low levels. Trump will portray this as a victory for world peace, exactly as Moon would want him to. I would guess too that what Kim’s visit to China was really about was precisely this: the future shape of incremental defense agreements between North and South. And Moon stands to get re-elected on this.
I’m confident that history books will, ultimately, portray Moon as the man who betrayed democracy, but in the short-term, he stands to remain as President for the next six years, and at the end of that time, his plan is to have effectively tied the hands of any future South Korean government. Short-term? He wants something in place by the 100th anniversary of the 19th March Movement, that is, 19 March, 2019.
J6Junkie
5 years ago
Jean Paul is probably right on the money. Moon is the ultimate Manchurian candidate.
Photo caption: “Still not as gay as Twilight.”
KJU chastising his stooge for not getting bags of US money for him.
Photo caption: “This is not how I wanted to meet darling but I am so glad to see you again.” You can figure out who said what to whom.
“My bed has been so empty without you.” – could go either way.
“I like a meaty little twink. You will look so nice in a sailor suit.”
“You are one sweet old chickenhawk.”
“Want to go to garage and do karate?”
“I’m not so ronery anymore”
Mun is holding up Kim, like Kim is his baby. In the handshake, Mun is pulling Kim’s hand into Mun’s personal space, but Kim is keeping distance and staying in his personal space.
“What do I feel down there? Are you really that happy to see me?”
“Ah, I felt you first, bro. Give me a big one.”
“Okay, fine, but no tongue, right?”
More seriously, this is about Moon wanting to create first steps to a “confederation.” That won’t work without joint defense, and the reduction to nothing of USFK to very low levels. Trump will portray this as a victory for world peace, exactly as Moon would want him to. I would guess too that what Kim’s visit to China was really about was precisely this: the future shape of incremental defense agreements between North and South. And Moon stands to get re-elected on this.
I’m confident that history books will, ultimately, portray Moon as the man who betrayed democracy, but in the short-term, he stands to remain as President for the next six years, and at the end of that time, his plan is to have effectively tied the hands of any future South Korean government. Short-term? He wants something in place by the 100th anniversary of the 19th March Movement, that is, 19 March, 2019.
Jean Paul is probably right on the money. Moon is the ultimate Manchurian candidate.