That is what the Korea Times is speculating about:
Vladimir Putin
With North Korean leader Kim Jong-un making a surprise visit to China, chances are that the dictator will also hold dialogue with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The possibility has risen after Kim ended his four-day state visit to Beijing on Wednesday. Kim, accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol-ju, met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The meeting between the two leaders came at a time when the North Korean leader plans to hold dialogue with President Moon Jae-in and United States President Donald Trump in April and May, respectively.
Kim’s unprecedented active determination for dialogue also raises hopes for a possible meeting with the Russian leader.
The Kremlin dismissed the possibility for a potential summit between Kim and Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wednesday that no schedule for the summit has been arranged and is not under review at the moment.
But chances are that Pyongyang and Moscow could join hands, as Russia also apparently hopes to play a part in the ongoing North Korea nuclear issues. [Korea Times]
I guess we will see over the next month if Putin wants to insert himself into the current negotiations going on over the future of the Korean peninsula.
Here is what Chinese expert on North Korea, Yang Xiyu thinks about the possibility of Kim Jong-un denuclearizing:
Yang Xiyu
Yang Xiyu, one of China’s leading experts on North Korea, said that Mr. Kim was clearly trying to repair the North’s deeply strained relations with Beijing, its traditional ally and benefactor, while opening new ties with its enemy South Korea.
Even so, Mr. Yang said, that did not signal that Mr. Kim was willing to give up his nuclear arsenal, though he has told South Korean envoys that he was prepared to discuss the possibility.
“He is starting a new game where he could make concessions on denuclearization,” Mr. Yang said. “At most, he will cut the grass, but he will not pull out the roots.” [New York Times]
If Kim Jong-un meets with President Trump and does not make any serious offer to denuclearize than Kim better be ready for if the Trump administration decides to come back with a bottle of Roundup to kill the roots.
Japan wants conditions attached to the summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un: make North Korea promise to resolve the abduction issue and abandon medium-range ballistic missiles having Japan within range https://t.co/GFQUq4fJrQ
According to the Korea Times’ intelligence sources, the North Korean train that traveled to China this week did in fact carry Kim Jong-un:
A train believed to be carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leaves the Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China, Tuesday / Reuters-Yonhap
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a two-day visit to Beijing that started Monday, according to intelligence sources Tuesday.
This is the first time that Kim has taken an overseas trip and held a summit with a leader from another country since assuming power in 2011.
Kim took a train for his Beijing visit, but no detailed travel arrangements have been confirmed so far. The sources said that Kim met with the Chinese president and high-ranking officials from the Communist Party of China on the Beijing visit. The South Korean and Chinese governments have not released any official statements on the rare trip by the North Korean leader.
The visit comes at a critical time when the reclusive regime remains under growing diplomatic pressure amid heightened international sanctions imposed for the regime’s continuous nuclear and missile threats. With China also joining the global drive, relations between Beijing and Pyongyang had reached a low ebb.
The unexpected meeting between the two leaders also came a month before a planned inter-Korean summit. The North Korean leader has in recent months showed a strong willingness to improve ties with the South. On the back of the rare peace momentum on the Korean Peninsula, Kim also expanded the dialogue signal by offering to hold a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but it makes sense that Kim Jong-un would meet with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping before the upcoming summits. China was one of the combatants of the Korean War and has significant interests on the Korean peninsula. China will want to have these interests addressed by North Korea prior to upcoming negotiations between the DPRK, ROK, and the US. China in turn could be influential in getting United Nations sanctions reduced since they are a member of the UN Security Council. The next few months are shaping up to be quite interesting for the Korean peninsula.
Mr. Bolton just needs to make sure that no one brings up what happened to Libya after the nuclear deal:
Washington’s newly appointed national security advisor John Bolton may seek a comprehensive denuclearization deal with North Korea as the U.S. used to disarm Libya in the early 2000s.
Bolton has referred to the Libya case as a means to denuclearize Pyongyang. The remark was made as leaders of North Korea and the U.S. are set to meet in May to discuss the North’s denuclearization.
In 2003, Libya agreed to destroy all of its chemical, nuclear and biological weapons stockpiles, and its nuclear weapons program equipment was shipped to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in the U.S. the following year.
The dismantlement was made in exchange for the normalization of Libya’s relations with the U.S. and Europe and the easing of economic sanctions it had been under. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, however unlike Libya, if North Korea does give up its nuclear weapons they have a large enough conventional military capability to threaten Seoul that any future regime change attack is unlikely.
If this actually did happen the people who did it would make a much stronger statement if they were able to take pictures of the graffiti and smuggle it outside of the country for publication:
A North Korean resident recorded themselves defacing and burning images of Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Suk in February 2011. Image: Daily NK
The North Korean authorities have been put on high alert after discovering anti-Kim Jong Un graffiti defacing a major government building in the capital earlier this month.
“A person scribbled an anti-Kim Jong Un message on one of the outer walls of the ‘April 25 House of Culture’ in Pyongyang before dawn on March 1,” a resident of Pyongyang reported to Daily NK on March 19.
“The atmosphere is extremely tense now, with expectations that Kim Jong Un will soon personally hand down instructions over the matter.”
When asked what the exact words used in the anti-regime graffiti were, the source said he did not know, only that such graffiti appeared, and that in an attempt to track down the perpetrator, the authorities are conducting handwriting tests on residents and renewing scrutiny of the city’s non-official resident population.
Kim Jong Un has also reportedly ordered the country’s top intelligence agencies including the Ministry of State Security and Ministry of People’s Security to take part in a month-long emergency training course in response to the graffiti incident, likely in an attempt to strengthen the political and ideological resolve of its members. [Daily NK]
It looks like Kim Jong-un may be receiving his marching orders from the Chinese government before the upcoming summits with the ROK and US presidents:
Kim Jong-un was rumoured to be paying a secret visit to China on Monday after an armoured North Korean train pulled into Beijing under heavy guard.
Passengers were diverted and services cancelled as the train arrived in Beijing around 3pm, before video emerged showing a car driving away under police escort.
The train bears a marked similarity to one that Kim Jong-un’s father, Kim Jong-il, used for his trips to China, sparking speculation that the Supreme Leader was on board.
If the news is confirmed, it would mark Kim’s first visit to any foreign country since taking the reins of power. [Daily Mail]
You can read more at the link, but considering the honor guard, VIP motorcade, and the amount of security that met the train it seems likely it is either Kim Jong-un or maybe his sister visiting North Korea to justify such a response.
My rule of thumb is that anything the Kim regime is against must be a good thing for South Korea or the US. In this case the acquisition of the F-35A by the ROK military must be good thing considering the reaction:
North Korea blasted the South Korean military on Sunday for acting against the conciliatory mood developing on the Korean Peninsula, saying that the South is engaging in military maneuvers against Pyongyang.
The North criticized South Korea’s decision to deploy F-35A stealth jets and moves to buy more long-range air-to-ground missiles as part of a bid to strengthen weapons systems.
The military is scheduled to formally unveil the first F-35A stealth fighter aircraft for its military in a rollout ceremony this week. Seoul’s arms agency said it signed in February a purchase deal for 90 more Taurus bunker-buster missiles.
“(Such announcements) are open provocations against the negotiating party and a dangerous move that runs counter to the current mood for reconciliation and unity that the two Koreas had not witnessed in a long time,” said a commentary carried by the North’s ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. [Yonhap]
"Many defectors I met, they hardly sleep. They're putting in more time and energy to earn money so they won't be too behind," documentary filmmaker Steve Choi said. https://t.co/8IZucaJuJl
