June 15, 2018
The North Korean summit is over. Now for the hard part.
President Trump's meeting with Kim Jong-un in Singapore was heavy on drama but ultimately light on specifics. Kim agreed to complete denuclearization, and the U.S. to provide benefits, but all without articulated steps or timetables.
What's next: For all the to-ing and fro-ing ahead of the summit, it may well turn out that the Trump-Kim meeting was the easy part. Now Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart must negotiate an actual plan that leads to complete denuclearization.
The work ahead will be hard and perhaps impossible. Pompeo's first task will be to demonstrate that there indeed is a shared understanding of what the two sides mean by "complete denuclearization," and to elicit a weapons declaration and lock in a timetable for their destruction. The administration should test the possibility that Kim is sincere about disarming without giving away tangible benefits ahead of true demonstrations of commitment. On that count, Trump's pledge to suspend joint military exercises with South Korea was a step in the wrong direction.
Read the Full Article at Axios
More from CNAS
-
North Korea Reveals Troop Dispatch to Russia amid U.S.-South Korea Policy Talks
Video
North Korea has confirmed for the first time that its troops are operating in Russia, and it is preparing to rewrite its party charter with the possibility of officially namin...
By Dr. Go Myong-Hyun
-
Chinese Maker of Bitcoin-Mining Machines Is a Security Threat, Says Expert
Video
Bloomberg News reports that a Chinese manufacturer, Bitmain Technologies Ltd, that sells most of the world’s Bitcoin-mining machines — including 16,000 of them to a venture ba...
By David Feith
-
Video
Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
North Korea’s Provocations, Power Plays, and Shifting AlliancesTensions on the Korean Peninsula have reached a new and dangerous threshold. President Lee Jae Myung is warning of a real risk of accidental military clashes, as the situation...
By Dr. Go Myong-Hyun
-
Commentary
Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
How to Win the Economic War with ChinaTrump's approach to China has run aground, giving Beijing unprecedented advantage in the economic conflict....
By Edward Fishman & Julian Gewirtz
