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Trump and Kim: a serious affair
All eyes are on the upcoming summit between the US and North Korea – if it goes ahead.
(Image credit: This content is subject to copyright.)
The 12 June summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un may be back on after two weeks of "hard-nosed negotiating, including a communications blackout by the North and a public cancellation by the US", say Catherine Lucey, Zeke Miller and Kim Tong-Hyung in The Washington Post.
On Tuesday, Trump confirmed that top North Korean official Kim Yong Chol was arriving in New York for talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and teams of US officials have already arrived in the Korean Demilitarised Zone and Singapore. The White House is now characterising Trump's missive as a negotiating tactic, designed to bring Kim back to the table in a more constructive mood.
We should be less concerned about whether the summit will go ahead than what will happen if it does, says William Hague in The Daily Telegraph. Trump's objective is to end the nuclear threat and bolster his chances of re-election. Kim's objective is to "stay in power for life" while dividing the alliance against him, comprising the US, South Korea, Japan and much of the world. There are three possible outcomes of a summit, and in each Kim wins.
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In the first, talks break down because Kim's apparently "generous" offer falls short of satisfying the US: Kim is no worse off but Trump "gets the blame". In the second, they come to a staggered agreement to reduce tensions, peaceful intentions are declared and economic co-operation increased. Americans feel safer but Kim's existing arsenal mean that his neighbours don't.
In the third, Kim agrees to denuclearisation and US forces leave the peninsula. Sanctions end, the North opens up economically and Kim receives a security guarantee and a closer alliance with China to save himself from the fate of Muammar Gaddafi. North Korea would still be stronger than the South militarily and China would be the long-term beneficiary of a US withdrawal. The last option isn't a possibility, says Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post. However, if the two leaders can make progress towards "real talks" and "concrete objectives", the "region and the world will be a safer place". Surely it's "worth a shot".
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Emily has worked as a journalist for more than thirty years and was formerly Assistant Editor of MoneyWeek, which she helped launch in 2000. Prior to this, she was Deputy Features Editor of The Times and a Commissioning Editor for The Independent on Sunday and The Daily Telegraph. She has written for most of the national newspapers including The Times, the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, The Evening Standard and The Daily Mail, She interviewed celebrities weekly for The Sunday Telegraph and wrote a regular column for The Evening Standard. As Political Editor of MoneyWeek, Emily has covered subjects from Brexit to the Gaza war.
Aside from her writing, Emily trained as Nutritional Therapist following her son's diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes in 2011 and now works as a practitioner for Nature Doc, offering one-to-one consultations and running workshops in Oxfordshire.
