Trump-Kim summit raises concerns over South Korea
DONALD Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s brief and historic Singapore fling has some worried the deal-making US President may have offered too much, too soon.
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DONALD Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s brief and historic Singapore fling drew a wide range of reactions, from regional optimism to concern the deal-making US President may have offered too much, too soon.
Mr Kim’s commitment on Tuesday to the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula” was welcomed by the international community, including Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who embraced his US counterpart’s “red hot go” at plotting a path to peace.
“The President has to be given credit for having the determination, the courage to act in a way that’s very decisive,” Mr Turnbull said.
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“He has acted in a way that no president has done before. He has gone and seized the opportunity, had a meeting and spent a lot of time with Kim Jong-un.
“Will it result in the complete denuclearisation of the peninsula? Only time will tell, and the President has acknowledged that.”
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said: “We will take a new path going forward. Leaving dark days of war and conflict behind, we will write a new chapter of peace and cooperation”.
CONCERNS OVER SUSPENSION OF ‘WAR GAMES’
But Mr Trump’s shock announcement that he would suspend so called “war games”, joint US-South Korean military exercises which have long infuriated the North but are considered an essential pillar of regional defence, drew consternation from some quarters.
North Korea describes the exercises as preparation for an invasion, and some of Pyongyang’s most frightening nuclear rhetoric has come during the drills.
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“We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should,” Mr Trump said, adding they were “very provocative”.
North Korea media claimed the concession was demanded by Mr Kim, and Asia watchers expressed concern that Mr Trump had agreed to the suspension before any concrete steps to denuking had been taken.
“Stopping the joint exercises has been a long-term goal for North Korea and China,” wrote analysts Victor Cha and Sue Mi Terry from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
“Trump delivered it while getting nothing in return beyond the same generalities that North Korea has been offering since the early 1990s.”
Former US Ambassador to Singapore Frank Lavin said any weakening of the South Korean defence system was concerning.
“I would say be very careful about dialling these things down. It’s not a light switch, you can’t turn them on and off,” said Mr Levin, who worked in the Reagan administration.
“If you degrade it you are going to have an enormous difficulty in reinstating that and I think the North knows that, so any deterioration is a victory for them. So be very careful.
“My advice to the United States government is let North Korea go first. Let them prove their bonafides first.”
Former South Korean military official Moon Seong Mook said: “The American military presence in South Korea wouldn’t mean much if the militaries don’t practice through joint drills.”
POMPEO TO BRIEF LEADERS ON AGREEMENT
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will today travel to Seoul and Tokyo to personally brief President Moon and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe respectively.
North Korea’s other neighbour in the Pacific, Japan, was left without what it wanted most from the summit — a clear declaration that North Korea would reopen talks over the abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago.
Japanese leaders appeared satisfied, nonetheless, with what they got: Trump’s public promise that he raised the issue with Kim and that the North was “working on that.”
For Japan, the abductions remain a major obstacle to joining the United States and South Korea in the growing engagement with the North.
Both Mr Trump and Mr Kim spent Wednesday on personal victory laps, with each claiming they had walked out with more than they took into the summit.
“The World has taken a big step back from potential Nuclear catastrophe! No more rocket launches, nuclear testing or research! The hostages are back home with their families. Thank you to Chairman Kim, our day together was historic!” Mr Trump said in a series of tweets from Air Force One as he flew home.
“A year ago the pundits & talking heads, people that couldn’t do the job before, were begging for conciliation and peace — “please meet, don’t go to war.” Now that we meet and have a great relationship with Kim Jong Un, the same haters shout out, “you shouldn’t meet, do not meet!”
TRUMP SAYS HE ‘TRUSTS’ KIM
Mr Trump also said that he believed Mr Kim would follow through with denuclearisation after meeting him.
“I do trust him, yeah,” Mr Trump said in an interview on US TV.
“Maybe in a year you’ll be interviewing [me] and I’ll say I made a mistake. It’s possible. We’re dealing at a high level, a lot of things can change, a lot of things are possible.”
North Korean state media agency KCNA incorrectly claimed Mr Trump had agreed to end the economic sanctions which had brought Mr Kim to the summit.
It also claimed Mr Trump had accepted an invitation from the leader of the communist regime to visit his impoverished nation.
“Kim Jong-un invited Trump to visit Pyongyang at a convenient time and Trump invited Kim Jong-un to visit the US. The two top leaders gladly accepted each other’s invitation”, KCNA said.
Mr Trump had said Mr Kim was “absolutely” welcome at the White House but there was no confirmation he intended to visit North Korea.
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