It looks like the Pope is willing to be a propaganda tool for the Kim regime to make it look like they really have reformed and are nice guys hosting the Pope. This charade is all in an effort to get sanctions lifted in return for doing little to nothing in return in regards to denuclearization:
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) holds hands with Pope Francis while paying a courtesy call on the pontiff in the Vatican on Oct. 18, 2018. (Yonhap)
Pope Francis expressed his willingness Thursday to visit North Korea if officially invited, also saying he will “certainly” respond to such an invitation from the communist state.
The remarks came in a meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, who paid a courtesy call on the pope to deliver a verbal invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for the pope to visit Pyongyang.
“The pope said ‘(I) will unconditionally give an answer if an (official) invitation arrives and I can go’,” Moon’s top press secretary, Yoon Young-chan, told reporters. [Yonhap]
Hopefully “progress” with North Korea’s denuclearization doesn’t reach a point where Secretary Mattis has to become the one to make it happen:
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said there is progress on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, although it remains a difficult issue.
Mattis told reporters traveling with him to Vietnam Monday that the efforts to denuclearize North Korea continue to be diplomatically-led.
He cited U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent trip to Pyongyang, where the top American diplomat met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to push progress on denuclearization and plan a second summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.
“There is progress,” Mattis said. “We know it’s going to be difficult as they deal with this difficult issue. No surprise there.” [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but this was a pretty vanilla statement about the “progress” being made.
Seriously? South Korea agreed to enforce the North's writ against defections? Isn't that essentially China's refugee policy & an agreement to tear up the 1951 Refugee Convention? https://t.co/LMeHeXmuKT
Song Young-gil, Moon's party, said after #NorthKorea dev'd #nuclear weapons, its econ improved. He couldn't tell apart streets of Pyongyang from Hong Kong/Singapore. He said #KimJongUn wants a country with no shame, one that is world's happiest–a Confucius socialism, familism.
Per 11 UN resolutions, NK required to abandon nuke, missile, and BCW programs in “complete, verifiable, irreversible manner.” KJU doles our morsels at his pace and demands reciprocal actions. Like a criminal asking the cop, “what will you give me for not robbing a bank today?” https://t.co/QAzKBa0c53
I am willing to be this is President Moon’s idea to further help reform the image of Kim Jong-un:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will invite Pope Francis to the communist nation’s capital Pyongyang, promising a “fervent welcome” during the papal visit, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.
In a briefing, presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Kim’s invitation would be delivered to the Pope when President Moon Jae-in visits Vatican City.
Moon is expected to visit the Vatican on Oct. 17-18, part of a nine-day European tour starting Oct. 13.
“President Moon suggested that Chairman Kim meet the Pope, pointing out that he is very much interested in peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Kim told reporters. “Kim promised Moon he would give a fervent welcome to the Pope if he visited Pyongyang.” [Korea Times]
I guess we will see if the Pope is willing to be a propaganda tool for the Moon administration and the Kim regime to help reform Kim Jong-un’s image in order to help get sanctions dropped and their confederation idea implemented.
Did KJU really say "inspectors" in Korean? Are both sides using same word & definition? Will they really get to inspect & with what equipment, or just observe? "Inspections," "tour/visit" all different for NK in past. And KCNA readout different emphasis vs State: prep for summit. https://t.co/U78ioocPG5
I am willing to bet that Lieutenant General Eyre is saying things that US generals are not allowed to express:
Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre, right, who was a brigadier general at the time of this photo, speaks with Lt.-Gen. Paul Wynnyk, commander of the Canadian army, left, in the Wainwright Garrison training area in 2016. Eyre has now been appointed deputy commander of the UN Command in Korea. (DND Combat Camera/Master Corporal Malcolm Byers)
A senior officer in the United Nations Command is urging caution about a declaration to end the Korean War, warning it could be a North Korean ploy to pull the South Korea-U.S. alliance apart.
Canadian Lieutenant-General Wayne Eyre is quoted as calling the prospective declaration a “slippery slope” in terms of the U.S. troop presence in South Korea.
In remarks at a Washington seminar, Eyre described the North Koreans as experts at “divide and conquer.”
Abut 28-thousand-500 U.S. troops are based in South Korea to deter or defeat a repeat of North Korea’s 1950 invasion or other provocations.
He said it needs to be questioned why North Korea is pushing so hard for an end-of-war declaration.
While noting that the recent climate of negotiations offered hope for a lasting peace, he suggested that a war-ending declaration would lead the public to question seriously the need for a continued U.S. troop presence on the peninsula. [KBS World Radio]
I have said this repeatedly that after a peace treaty is signed the South Korea left will then mobilize to make life difficult for US troops in South Korea. Every traffic accident, parking ticket, drunken fight, etc. will become a national headline to increase anti-US sentiment. It will be the 2002-2004 timeframe all over again and this time the Korean left will hope that the US president decides to pull out USFK on his own accord.
