In the past couple of weeks, many things happened between North Korea and the US. Historic meeting was announced then canceled, then again confirmed after which it was dropped and so on. During the last few days, it seems that the officials are on the same page and the talks about the Trump-Kim summit are going in the right direction, but, it is still under question according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Pompeo said that in the last 72 hours things were pushed forward, and it is a noticeable improvement of the relations between the two countries, but also stressed out how there is a lot more work to be done. He stated that they are making progress to finalizing the deal regarding the summit where leaders will meet and talk about denuclearization of Korean Peninsula.
The decision of Pyongyang to send high official, Kim Yong-chol, that is considered the right hand of Kim Jong-un, is a clear sign that they want to make a deal. On the other hand, we know that the agreement, if it gets made, will not come cheaply. North Korea sacrificed a lot into the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles program, and they will not give it all up easily.
While Kim Yong-chol and Mike Pompeo are talking in New York, it has been reported that additional meetings between Washington and Pyongyang representatives are being held in both Singapore and at the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea. Pompeo also added that this is a great opportunity for the deal to be struck and that it would be “nothing short of tragic to let this opportunity go to waste.”
Looking back at the previous agreements that were made between North and other countries we can conclude that in most cases the rogue state was the one that broke the terms and cancels deals. This time, hopefully, it will be different, and we will have a summit of two leaders that will provide us with a solution.
The main objective of these talks is to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and according to Harry Kazianis, director of Defense Studios at the Center for the National interest this might not happen. “After listening to Secretary Pompeo today, I would argue North Korea is still unwilling — and maybe never will be willing — to satisfy the Trump Administration’s goal of a denuclearization agreement before any summit in Singapore. And make no mistake: This is the key to getting a summit finalized.”
What many experts did notice are the positive signs from North, and that the current talks are going really well. Also, this was confirmed by POTUS saying that New York meeting is going “very well.” On Friday it is expected for the Pyongyang officials to travel to Washington where they will deliver “a letter from Kim Jong Un,” for Trump.
Source: edition.cnn.com
