The US president made a major concession at his summit with Kim Jong-un, for minimal returnA confident leader strode into the Singapore summit and won. Kim Jong-un went with a plan, gave little and left with plenty: bolstered status and diplomatic leverage, lavish praise from the US president, the promise of an end to US-South Korean military drills - and, surely, a growing confidence that North Korea is doing well at this game. A meeting supposed to effect a breakthrough on denuclearisation looked `more like a big welcome party to the nuclear-armed club`, in the acid but accurate words of one observer.Better than war, for sure. But since it was Donald Trump who raised that spectre, giving him credit for dispelling it would be like calling a man a life-saver when second thoughts stay his hand from murder. The US president handed over gift after gift in exchange for the inflation of his ego. He does not know or does not care that his country went home poorer than it came. The language in the joint statement was weaker than in previous agreements - the very significant difference being that the North is now much further advanced in its nuclear programme. There was not even a pledge that either side `shall` take action; just the assertion that North Korea will `commit to working towards` denuclearisation, which it sees as a general, not unilateral, process. Continue reading...
|
