It is not a matter of whether the DPRK can afford the summit. It is really a test of how openly the DPRK can snooker whomever. It’s a clever tactic to test its opponents’ weaknesses before even sitting down. Let the eye blinking begin! https://t.co/9srzrkYsoH
There has been some changes in the North Korean military’s top leadership:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects construction of the Wonsan-Kalma shore tourist zone in an undated photo released on May 25. The bespectacled General Kim Su Gil (third from right) was newly promoted to head the army’s general political bureau. [Newsweek]Seoul is monitoring developments in the North’s military, it said Monday after reports Pyongyang replaced three of its top military officials ahead of a summit with the United States.
President Donald Trump is due to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore with Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal high on the agenda and reports said that the reshuffle could be aimed at taming the military.
Late last month the North’s state media revealed that Kim Su Gil had been appointed as director of the military’s powerful General Political Bureau (GPB), replacing Kim Jong Gak.
According to Yonhap news agency, which cited intelligence sources, the chief of the general staff Ri Myong Su has also been replaced by his deputy, Ri Yong Gil.
And defence minister Pak Yong Sik has been succeeded by No Kwang Chol, previously first vice minister, it added.
The wholesale reshuffle would be unusual if confirmed, Seoul’s unification ministry said. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but analysts think the changes is to prevent any resistance to any nuclear deal that Kim Jong-un may agree to during his summit with President Trump. The Asahi Shimbun is reporting that all three of North Korea’s top military leadership positions have been changed in the past six months in preparation for any changes in the country’s nuclear policy.
I think Kim Jong-un just wants to make sure he has top military generals that he completely trusts in place before exiting the country to go to Singapore next week. If there was ever going to be a coup against the Kim regime, it would be when he and his top lieutenants are in Singapore for the summit.
Here is the latest development on the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore:
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, shows an envelope containing a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. Kim Yong-chol, left, vice chairman of the North Korean Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, delivered the envelope to Trump in person. [YONHAP]President Moon Jae-in will join North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore next week to declare an end to the Korean War, which has technically been running for 68 years, according to a diplomatic source.
“Preparations are already underway for President Moon to declare a formal end to the Korean War with the two leaders on June 12, the date of the North-U.S. summit, or the next day on the 13th,” said the source, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“Singapore has already begun preparations to host President Moon [for a trilateral meeting].”
If realized, the three leaders standing together to declare the Korean War’s end will certainly be a charged symbolic moment, but it will not have legal force. (…………)
Expectations of a declaration to end the Korean War arose after Trump’s remarks early Saturday, when he said signing of a statement to end it would be “very important,” after a meeting with Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the North Korean Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, who delivered a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“We talked about ending the war,” Trump said on the south lawn after Kim Yong-chol left the White House. “And you know, this war has been going on – it’s got to be the longest war – almost 70 years, right? And there is a possibility of something like that.
“Can you believe that we’re talking about the ending of the Korean War?” he continued. “You’re talking about 70 years.”
He said the declaration will be “more of a signing of a document,” and “very important.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read much more at the link, but is it just me or does it seem like President Moon was very eager to once again get the spotlight on him by forcing his way into this summit?
Anyway the so called into the Korean War won’t really be an end because the United Nations Armistice Command and China will also have to agree to the end of the Korean War to make it official. This will allow President Trump to easily back out on this declaration at a later date if the Kim regime does not live up to whatever commitments they are prepared to make.
But the US would need to circumvent its own sanctions against the rogue nation.
The peace talks are set for The Fullerton Hotel Singapore on June 12.
A rack rate room goes for $415 that night but a super-luxurious suite, befitting a world leader, could go for as much as $6,000, the newspaper said.
The hermit kingdom reportedly requires that all of Kim’s lodging bills are picked up by another country.
The US is open to paying for Kim. But first, Trump’s team would have to get around its own economic sanctions against North Korea — by obtaining a waiver from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. [NY Post]
You can read more at the link, but it is amazing how shameless the Kim regime is about having other people pick up their tabs. They kind of remind me of this woman who recently made headlines in New York City.
That is what some in Washington D.C. are thinking:
Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un meet in Panmunjon on May 26.
When Donald Trump abruptly scrapped their planned summit, Kim Jong Un sought out someone he knew would come over for a chat: South Korean leader Moon Jae-in. (………….)
For now, Moon has maintained an appearance as a neutral middleman who can bridge the gap between Trump and Kim, two reactive leaders who create a high risk of miscalculation. Yet over the longer term, Moon’s desire to cut a peace deal with North Korea during his single five-year term means Trump could find it harder to enforce his “maximum pressure” campaign if talks break down again.
“There is a fine line between being an honest broker and being the North’s accomplice,” said Ralph Cossa, president of Pacific Forum in Honolulu. “There are some in Washington who are seeing Moon as the latter and this builds upon the distrust that any progressive leader carries with him.” [Bloomberg]
You can read more at the link, but if things turn out once again that North Korea gets aid and sanctions relief for little to nothing in return; the media and left will not think of Moon as an accomplice. Instead they will award Moon the Nobel Peace Prize just like they did with former President Kim Dae-jung.
Kim Dae-jung gave the North Koreans a $500 million bribe to hold the summit and yet many in the media and the left defend his legacy to this day. Arguably the bribe followed by nearly a decade of unconditional aid has sustained the Kim regime after the break up of the Soviet Union and allowed them to build their current nuclear arsenal.
However, maybe Moon will surprise us and he will convince Kim Jong-un to give up his nuclear weapons with his current bromance effort. If that is the case President Moon would definitely be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize and any other accolade people want to give him. I am however not getting my hopes up.
A mural depicting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looms over a passerby near the Koreatown neighborhood in Los Angeles, Thursday. Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump canceled a planned summit with Kim Jong-un. [Korea Times]
According President Moon, Kim Jong-un is committed to denuclearizing:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reaffirmed his willingness to denuclearize and hold a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Sunday.
“Chairman Kim Jong-un has once again clearly expressed his commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula following his pledge in the Panmunjom Declaration and expressed his willingness to end the history of war and confrontation through the success of the North Korea-U.S. summit,” Moon said of his latest summit with the North Korean leader held Saturday.
“We two leaders agreed the June 12 North Korea-U.S. summit must be successfully held,” he told a nationally televised press conference.
The latest inter-Korean summit was held on the North Korean side of Panmunjom, a border village that sits directly on the Military Demarcation Line that divides the two Koreas. The first Moon-Kim summit was held on the South Korean side of Panmunjom on April 27.
Trump on Thursday (Washington time) called off his scheduled summit with Kim, citing the North’s tremendous anger and open hostility, only to suggest later the meeting would go ahead as planned.
“While explaining the outcome of my summit with U.S. President Trump held last week, I relayed the message that President Trump is firmly willing to end his country’s hostile relationship with North Korea and enhance economic cooperation should Chairman Kim make a decision on complete denuclearization and implements it,” Moon said.
The South Korean president visited Washington on Monday-Wednesday. He said his surprise meeting with Kim came at a suggestion from the North Korean leader, who on Friday expressed hope to meet for candid dialogue.
“Also, as both Chairman Kim and President Trump sincerely wish for the success of the North-U.S. summit, I stressed the need for the two sides to remove any misunderstanding through direct communication and to hold enough dialogue on agenda issues that need to be addressed at their summit,” President Moon said, adding, “Chairman Kim also agreed.” (……..)
“Chairman Kim Jong-un once again clearly affirmed that his commitment to complete denuclearization remains firm yesterday. What remains uncertain to Chairman Kim Jong-un is whether he can trust the U.S. promise to end their hostile relationship and guarantee North Korea’s security once the North denuclearizes,” the president added. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but if Kim Jong-un wants to ensure a deal stays in place then he needs to have President Trump ratify a treaty with the Senate. If a deal is struck that is not ratified by the Senate then the next President can come in and not follow it. That is what President Trump did with the Iran deal. It would be interesting though in an election year for Congress how they would approach the ratification of a treaty with North Korea.
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)
