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| U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Missile Defense Review announcement at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 17. AFP-Yonhap |
By Kim Yoo-chul
U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed to have averted a major conflict with North Korea through a blend of engagement, economic sanctions and threats of military action. But some U.S. politicians and experts appear skeptical about the North's "genuine intentions" as a second summit between Trump and North Korean leader KimJong-un looms.
The outcome of the second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be determined more by the ability of each side to respond to each other's weaknesses than by the ability to project strength, they said.
Scott Snyder, a director of the program on U.S.-Korea Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), said both Trump and Kim may view their second summit as a mutual affirmation of strength, in which Trump gives the North Korean leader further international legitimacy.
"North Korea has made superficial gestures but resisted U.S. demands and waited for the value of the U.S. offer to go up. North Korea has put all its chips on Trump, but unless the leaders' personal relationship is accompanied by government-to-government talks, it will be impossible to overcome mutually hostile relations between the two countries," Snyder said.
Shin Bum-chol, an expert from the Asan Institute, said, "There are still huge gaps between the United States and North Korean positions." He mentioned a recent assessment on North Korea by chiefs of U.S. intelligence agencies, who claimed the North was unlikely to entirely dismantle its nuclear arsenal.
"Economic sanctions placed on the North constrain Kim's plans for economic improvement and also block investment inflows from foreign capital. As reconciliation with the U.S. is the only card for Kim to remove the biggest hurdle preventing his regime's economic prosperity, the question is how the United States will use this leverage, effectively and wisely, which I think is quite challenging," Shin said.
In a recent meeting with a group of South Korean lawmakers led by National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang in Washington, D.C., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Kim intends pursuing "demilitarization" of South Korea rather than denuclearization.
"Pelosi told the participants that the first Trump-Kim summit in Singapore last year was just a present for Kim and added now is the time to see evidence, not a lot of words," Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the country's main opposition Liberty Korea Party, told reporters. "Speaker Pelosi also told us that the first Trump-Kim summit produced no results.
Na, who was one of the members of the parliamentary delegation, added, "At the very last moment of the meeting, Pelosi said she was hopeful but not optimistic about the outcome of the upcoming Trump-Kim meeting to be held later this month in Hanoi, Vietnam."
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| North Korean official Kim Yong-chol prepares to leave Beijing International Airport, Jan. 17. AP-Yonhap |
Washington and Pyongyang have been turning a corner in their relationship. In previous Twitter posts, Trump said the North may become an economic powerhouse, and chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Stephen Biegun told top South Korean officials Washington was in talks with Pyongyang to address key outstanding issues ahead of the Hanoi summit.
Cheong Wa Dae and diplomatic sources in Seoul have said North Korea has agreed "in principle" to hand over a list of its ICBMs, and present detailed steps toward nuclear disarmament with international inspectors having access to inspect nuclear and missile facilities and testing sites.
