So now it looks like the Korean War Peace Treaty is off the table for the Trump-Kim II Summit:
Kyodo News reports Washington has floated to Pyongyang the idea of adopting a nonaggression or peace declaration act as they prepare for summit talks in Vietnam later this month.
The Japanese news agency on Friday quoted a number of U.S. and Japanese government sources familiar with the matter.
The sources said Washington made the proposal in order to entice North Korea into making concessions related to denuclearization by guaranteeing the security of the North Korean regime.
However, the report said it is uncertain whether an agreement will be reached before the second U.S.-North Korea summit, given Pyongyang’s continued reluctance to declare its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
The report said the U.S. initially sought to declare an official end to the Korean War but decided against the idea after assessing that it would be difficult to get support on the matter from relevant countries, including South Korea and China, in a short period of time.
Two years ago today(2/13), Kim Jong-un assassinated his half-brother using VX chemical nerve agent in an airport. People easily forget… pic.twitter.com/x1rmCu0HXV
Hey, where's *MY* military-industrial complex money? I've been writing blog posts, op-eds & acts of Congress about North Korea in my spare time for 16 years & I've yet to see dime one! Should I send a bill to Raytheon? https://t.co/SDgaRMvju2
I would not be surprised if he used the Chinese plane again just for safety purposes; a train journey from North Korea to Vietnam just seems too long of a trip to take though it would be a pretty awesome way to see China:
North Korea’s official plane.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un flew to Singapore on a rented Air China plane, instead of his aged official jet, last June for his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. What he will use to travel to Vietnam’s Hanoi for a second meeting with Trump is a point of speculation that will likely remain a mystery until his arrival there. Many say Kim is likely to fly on the state jet, codenamed “Chammae-1,” this time because the distance of travel, about 2,760 km, is only slightly more than half of the 4,700 km flown last June, and the Soviet-era jet, even if it’s aged, can sufficiently cover the flight. But others say that Kim could rent a plane from China again if he places priority on safety. Some even suggest that he could use his special train to travel all the way to the Southeast Asian nation through China for the Feb. 27-28 summit, just as he traveled to the neighboring nation by train last month, noting that Vietnam also has the same rail specifications as North Korea.
It looks like the Moon administration is not happy that the Trump administration is focusing on getting rid of North Korea’s ICBM program:
According to a high-level Blue House official, the South Korean government is worried about the possibility that Washington may strike a “small deal” with Pyongyang late this month due to pressure at home to return with a tangible result.
In such a small deal, the United States would focus on wiping out the North’s intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which can reach as far as the U.S mainland, instead of tackling the entire ballistic missile and nuclear program, including short- and mid-ranged missiles that threaten South Korea and Japan.
Amid looming fears here that the Trump administration was opting for a small deal, Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Sunday in a press briefing that Biegun told Moon’s national security advisor, Chung Eui-yong, “We are on the same page,” while describing his latest trip to Pyongyang on Saturday.
North Korea is trying to get their people to show more pride in their nation’s flag:
In this Oct. 25, 2018, file photo, dancers wave flags of North Korea and Korean Workers’ Party as they perform during “The Glorious Country” mass games at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea has extended the run of the iconic mass games, which it revived last month to mark the country’s 70th birthday.
North Korea is stepping up a new loyalty campaign as leader Kim Jong Un prepares for his second summit with President Donald Trump. The campaign began last month with the introduction of a song in praise of the nation’s flag. A video now being aired on state-run television to promote the song — called “Our National Flag” — shows repeated images of the flag being raised at international sports competitions and being formed by a sea of people holding up colored lengths of cloth at a parade and rally on Kim Il Sung Square. Other images show recent improvements in the economy and standard of living, a reflection of a current government policy shift that focuses on development and prosperity.
This seems like more evidence that US negotiators are focusing more on the ICBM threat than trying to eliminate the North Korean nuclear program:
The United States has asked North Korea to hand over a list of nuclear experts who were directly involved in the development of its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), according to sources, Friday.
They said U.S. officials engaged in working-level discussions in Pyongyang for the second summit between the U.S. and North Korea ― scheduled for later this month ― were focusing on the dismantlement of the North’s ICBMs, as well as the complete closure of its Yongbyon nuclear facility.
“Among Washington’s demands was for Pyongyang to list its ICBM developers,” one source said. Cheong Wa Dae officials declined to comment on the issue.
It has been speculated that the Trump administration would agree to end the Korean War and it appears that is the direction Trump-Kim II Summit negotiations are going:
President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping / Korea Times file
President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping may join the summit to be held between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this month in Vietnam to declare an end to the Korean War.
As U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun stated last week, President Trump is open to formally ending the war as part of measures to spur denuclearization talks with North Korea. This is an idea Moon, Xi and Kim have all been supporting.
One major obstacle was North Korea’s opposition to the continued presence of U.S. troops in South Korea. However, the North has reportedly changed its stance on this.
U.S. and South Korean officials said ending the Korean War is a major topic in the ongoing pre-summit talks in Pyongyang.
You can read more a the link, but I have said this repeatedly, North Korea does not have to call for a withdrawal of US troops when its surrogates in South Korea will do it for them.
Anti-US leftist groups will claim that a peace treaty calls into question why US troops are needed in Korea. Two of the largest anti-US leftist groups, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Minbyun-Lawyers for a Democratic Society are already advancing this idea.
I would not be surprised that these groups and other large anti-US leftist groups eventually mobilize to protest and blockade US military bases to disrupt operations and make life miserable for US servicemembers in Korea. The THAAD site is already experiencing this.
If the traffic at Camp Humphreys is already bad can you imagine what would happen if people had to deal with protesters as well while trying to get through the gates?
The protests combined with the ROK government playing hardball on USFK cost sharing would be intended to convince President Trump to withdraw some if not all of the US troops. This is why North Korea doesn’t have to call for US troop withdrawals when they have surrogates to do it for them.
Wish him well and doesn't end up, years later, saying strangely inane things like "I've visited North Korea 25 times!" Must realize frequency of #northkorea visits, which #Kimjongun regards "privileged tributary mission," and one's degree of influence are inversely proportional. https://t.co/Wz1H1hGdCP
It looks like the price for North Korea for the Trump-Kim II Summit will be closing their Yongbyon nuclear facility:
The second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, scheduled for the end of February, is expected to primarily deal with shutting down North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility and with corresponding measures by the US as part of fleshing out the joint statement signed by the two leaders in their Singapore summit on June 12, 2018, according to a high-ranking official at South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The question of building a peace regime is also expected to receive considerable attention.
“The US also places considerable significance” on North Korea’s conditional offer to shut down the Yongbyon reactor, a senior official at the Foreign Ministry who is familiar with the North Korea-US negotiations said during a meeting with reporters on Jan. 31. “Since this idea was brought up by North Korea, the discussion will focus on Yongbyon and then move on to other topics.”
During the inter-Korean Pyongyang Joint Statement in Sept. 2018, North Korea expressed its willingness to permanently close the Yongbyon nuclear facility presuming that the US takes corresponding measures, but some have argued that the Yongbyon facility is so old that closing it would have little value.
You can read more at the link, but closing Yongbyon is of more symbolic value for the US because the Kim regime can just reopen it whenever they decide to create another crisis. Even if they completely destroyed and dismantled Yongbyon such a deal does nothing to identify and shutdown any clandestine nuclear sites they may have.
It will be interesting to see what the US gives up in return for closing Yongbyon because the article claims that sanctions especially on the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the Kumgang Tours will remain in place. That means that a peace treaty and/or humanitarian aid will likely be what is offered.
