2018-06-12
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SULAIMANI — In a press conference following talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, US President Donald Trump gave few specifics of how exactly to achieve the goals outlined in an agreement that was signed by both leaders.
In his opening statement, Trump characterized the talks as “honest, direct and productive.”
The agreement included four key points:
“1. The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new U.S.-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.
2. The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
3. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
4. The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.”
Trump several times exaggerated the terms of the written agreement by saying that he had “secured complete denuclearization” and a cessation of all nuclear and missile tests.
To back up that claim, he said that he had received numerous further commitments from Kim after the deal was signed, including the shutdown of a missile engine testing facility.
He was asked by several reporters about North Korean human rights violations, but repeatedly dodged the question.
“They will be doing things. He wants to do the right thing,” he said. He added that Kim is a smart negotiator and that Kim is “much different” leader.
Trump also said that he would cancel joint military exercises with South Korea saying that the “war games” are “very provocative and inappropriate.”
Asked about sanctions, Trump said he looked forward to lifting them.
“The sanctions will come off when we are sure when we are sure the nukes are no longer a factor,” he said.
Trump also took several shots at previous administrations for not making North Korean non-proliferation and denuclearization a priority, despite numerous rounds of intense negotiations and agreements.
He also mentioned that withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal had fundamentally changed that country, saying, falsely, that Iran was no longer interested in Syria.
Before the summit, US officials had said that any agreement was predicated on complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” Even as recently as June 11, Pompeo tweeted support for that position. However, that language did not appear in the signed agreement.
Many Korean affairs and arms control analysts appeared to be underwhelmed by the text of the agreement.
Chad O'Carroll, CEO of Korea Risk Group, tweeted after images of the document were released: “This is a type of vision document that many said might be agreed to, leaving deliverables in hands of specialists.”
Robert E Kelly, a Professor of Political Science at Pusan National University, tweeted: “Wow. If this is it... this is depressing. This is even thinner than most skeptics anticipated. I figured Trump [would] at least get some missiles or a site closure or something concrete…This looks pretty generic.”
In fact, many analysts pointed out that the document signed by Trump and Kim in Singapore was remarkably similar to previous agreements signed between the US and North Korea in the 1990s.
Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at MIT, tweeted side-by-side pictures of the 2018 document with one from 1993 showing similar goals of peace, non-proliferation/denuclearization, and promises of further negotiations.
Historian and professor at the London School of Economics, Anne Applebaum, pointed out in a tweet that “in the interim [between the negotiations in the 1990s and today, North Korea] developed a new generation of missiles and nukes.”
China’s foreign ministry has said the international community could consider lifting economic sanctions on North Korea after the agreement signed today, according to Reuters.
This suggestion by Chinese officials signal the US policy of “maximum pressure” is already showing signs of cracking. China represents more than 90 percent of Pyongyang’s trade and is in a position to provide much needed relief for the isolated regime.
There are already reports that Kim’s charm offensive has lead China to relax restrictions on trade with the North, violating United Nations’ sanctions. All of this has come without substantial concessions from Pyongyang, despite a promise from the White House “maximum pressure” would endure until North Korea relinquishes its nuclear weapons
The two leaders began the day with a 48-minute one-on-one meeting with only translators present in the room, before having negotiations that involved aides, and a working lunch.
(NRT/Agencies)