Moon has been deputized by Kim to extort Lee to give Kim. Confusing? Put differently: The tyrant has cajoled the president, an elected leader, to coerce his nation's richest man to pay up to the tyrant. https://t.co/Kx3MSYnCOi
President Moon is continuing to advocate for everyone to believe in Kim Jong-un:
Korean President Moon Jae-in has an interview with Fox News in New York on Tuesday. [BLUE HOUSE]President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that the United States has nothing to lose from its denuclearization talks with North Korea, as it could resume sanctions or reverse a declaration ending the Korean War if Pyongyang reneges on its pledge to denuclearize.
Moon stressed that U.S. concessions to North Korea could be reversed if Pyongyang was caught cheating on its denuclearization pledge during an interview with Fox News during his five-day visit to New York for the UN General Assembly.
“One thing stands clear,” the president said. “South Korea and the U.S. have nothing to lose from denuclearization talks [with the North]. Measures that the North is required to take are abandon already-made nuclear stockpiles; dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear facility; and close down nuclear testing and missile testing sites.”
These steps were equivalent to “irreversible measures,” and the North’s demands of the United States could easily be reversed if Pyongyang doesn’t follow through with its denuclearization promises, Moon argued. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Here is what he had to say about USFK:
Moon also dismissed concerns that an end to the war could change the status of U.S. troops in South Korea and the UN Command.
“An end-of-war declaration is a political statement en route to signing a peace treaty. Until the peace treaty is signed, an armistice will be maintained,” he stressed.
Moon stressed that the issue of U.S. troops in the South had to do with the U.S.-Korea alliance, not ending the war or signing a peace treaty.
“North Korean leader Kim also agrees with this concept [of the U.S. forces in South Korea],” he said.
For the status of USFK, of course both Moon and Kim are of course going to say there will be no change. I believe that President Moon is too smart to advocate against keeping USFK in Korea post-peace treaty because that will mobilize the conservative opposition against him. However, Moon can use his surrogates to make life difficult for USFK to where the Trump administration could decide to withdraw on its own. This gets Moon and his left wing base in South Korea what they ultimately want, USFK withdrawal without getting blamed for it.
As far as denuclearization, I have been saying repeatedly, if the Kim regime wants people to see that it is serious about denuclearization then begin shipping nuclear material out of the country. Instead the regime and President Moon want sanctions dropped for North Korea so far doing little to nothing in return.
Once sanctions are dropped it will be extremely difficult to get an international consensus to reimplement sanction if they are not denuclearizing, but at the same time behaving. These countries will know that if they reimplement sanctions then missile and nuclear tests and other provocations will restart, so best just to leave North Korea alone. This then allows the Kim regime to keep their nukes and have sanctions dropped. We have been down this road before and it keeps ending at the same point and President Moon wants everyone to think the destination will be different this time.
President Moon wants everyone to believe that the Kim regime really means it this time to denuclearize:
President Moon Jae-in speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York on Tuesday (local time). / Yonhap
South Korean President Moon Jae-in pushed back Tuesday against widespread skepticism about the sincerity of Kim Jong Un’s vows to give up his nuclear bombs, saying that the current round of diplomacy with North Korea is ”completely different” than the many failed deals that have frustrated past negotiators.
Moon, fresh off a dramatic summit in Pyongyang last week with Kim that saw more promises from the North Korean leader to dismantle his weapons programs, is at the U.N. General Assembly this week, meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders to explain and, to some extent, defend his efforts to bring peace to the famously hostile Korean Peninsula.
He told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York that it was ”only natural that we have plenty of suspicions regarding the true motivations” of Kim. It was, after all, only last year that a series of increasingly powerful North Korean weapons tests, including the nation’s sixth nuclear test explosion, and the tough reaction by Trump had many worrying about war. Some critics believe that tough sanctions and pressure, rather than engagement and concessions, stand a better chance of ridding the North of its nukes.
”It’s completely different this time around,” Moon said, speaking through an interpreter. What’s changed this time is that, unlike past efforts that collapsed when the countries tried to implement deals that had been made at the working level, this one has Trump and Kim making the decisions and then driving their lieutenants to follow through.
”This was a promise made in front of the whole world” by Trump and Kim, Moon said. ”For this reason, I believe the promise will be kept.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but if Kim Jong-un wants people to think he is serious about denuclearization he can start shipping out nuclear material from his country. The concessions they have made so far are all easily reversible that he wants sanctions dropped and a peace treaty signed in return for.
Shipping nuclear material out of the country cannot be reversed and worthy of bigger concessions from the US. Until the Kim regime starts doing that people are going to rightfully remain skeptical about his intentions. As I have long been saying, the Kim regime wants “pretend denuclearization” which many people in the academic class, political class, and US adversaries want as well.
He spent 3 years as a forward observer for artillery. He says withdrawing the GPs don't just get rid of guards, but also forward observers at the GPs. Thus, he says, it'll render artillery further back useless. https://t.co/y2qtqUDsiI
I interrupt your exuberance to remind you that North Korea is not denuclearizing, is more oppressive & totalitarian than ever & has an unbroken history of international proliferation, crime, blackmail & terrorism. This is not leading to a lasting peace. It rhymes with 1938.
Some valid points are raised in the below piece. Reminds me of the adage of the risks of sleeping with dogs. But Moon seems to be willing to tolerate a few fleas in his quest for a more sustainable peace and reduction in conflict. https://t.co/7OTj3ugTjf
Quasi-hostages, dragooned into the dreaded anti-capitalist dictatorship by their own so-called liberal former human rights lawyer sovereign. Do those billionaires strike you as happy campers? https://t.co/B9oUyyKatg
It figures that the Dokdo issue would some how come up during the recent Inter-Korean Summit:
Choi turned a set of cards into a large card that showed the Unification Flag. Korea Times file
Magician Choi Hyun-woo, who went to Pyongyang as part of the South Korean delegation for the three-day inter-Korean summit, presented a magic show to the leaders of the two Koreas Tuesday night at Mokran (Magnolia) House.
“I was nervous at the moment,” The Kyunghyang Shinmun quoted Choi as saying. He said he was bit worried as he heard North Korean leader Kim Jong-un likes magic and he did not want to let him down.
During dinner on Tuesday, Choi performed card tricks that engaged the leaders and their wives.
“The first theme was telepathy, that is, to communicate telepathically,” Choi said.
For example, if President Moon Jae-in chose a card in his mind, Kim had to guess what card that was.
“It went well with President Moon and Chairman Kim, as well as with the two first ladies who were telepathic with each other,” the magician said.
“At the end, I turned the cards into a large card with a Korean Peninsula flag on it to show a message of going together in harmony. I was surprised when the two leaders pointed out the same thing that Dokdo (the rocky islets in the East Sea) was displayed on the card.” [Korea Times]
The head of state visit, yet no #SouthKorean flag whatsoever. Only flags of #NorthKorea & unification. What does it say about how Kim Jong-un thinks about 1)SK? 2)president Moon Jae-in? What does it say about Moon, who is not only fine with it, but just beaming (in other pics)? pic.twitter.com/b0IsMCnFag
