NEWS ANALYSIS
June 12, 2018–People say the devil is in the details. And with the joint statement signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-Un, the world has very little details with which to judge the outcome.
In essence, the statement speaks to the leaders’ intentions to establish relations between the two countries and to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
It is non-binding, and it probably carries less wait in the world of global politics than any one of Trump’s tweets. Still, it made for a good photo opportunity for both leaders.
Promises Pledged
Trump said he would guarantee security to the North Korean (DPRK) government regime and end joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Kim said he would work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
How the World Views the Singapore Summit
In the United States, amid both criticism and approval, well-versed commentators expressed skeptical support for the opening up of talks with North Korea. U.S. NBC News Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, for example, said the June 12 Trump-Kim meeting makes it harder to keep the economic sanctions against North Korea going.
“It really depends on whether China and Russia are willing to keep the pressure on him [Kim],” Mitchell said, just moments after the meeting. “The president having shown that he wants some sort of accord with Kim Jung-un, it is very hard now to now say that, ‘This is a dictator who deserves to be sanctioned,’ when he’s been praised so lavishly and effusively by the president of the United States.”
It appears she was right. Just a couple of hours later, China spoke in favor of easing UN Security Council pressure.
China Says ‘Time for Sanctions to Go’
In China, North Korea’s closest ally and largest trading partner, the government said it is time to lift economic sanctions.
“The Security Council’s actions should support and conform to the efforts of current diplomatic talks towards denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, and promote a spoltical solution for the peninsula,” said China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang in a press conference held in Beijing just hours after the meeting.
Russia Agrees with China
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told reporters that the “progress” should be reciprocated and sanctions lifted. “I think that it is only natural that we should be thinking about steps in that direction,” he was quoted by the AFP as saying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin invited North Korean political leader Kim Yong Nam to Moscow to meet him June 14 and to attend the Fifa World Cup, a Kremlin spokesman said.
Japan, South Korea Hopeful
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he sees the summit as a step forward “to a comprehensive settlement of issues”
and expressed a desire to negotiate a resolution on abduction by North Korea of Japanese citizens, reported the Straits Times.
South Korea President Moon Jae-in said the Singapore Summit was a great victory in what will be a long journey, the Korean Herald reported.
“Building upon the agreement reached today, 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. We will be there together with North Korea along the way,” Moon said. “This is just a beginning, and there may be many difficulties ahead, but we will never go back to the past again and never give up on this bold journey.“
N.K.: ‘Meeting of the Century’
Meanwhile, North Korea state media hailed it as a huge success. The official party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, for example, called it the “meeting of the century,” and characterized it as a win for Kim due to the concessions Trump mad. According to a Reuters news story, concessions include “halt U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, offer security guarantees to the North and lift sanctions against it as relations improve.”
As for Kim, he promised to put the past behind him. At the same time, he said the meeting with Trump was surreal. “Many will think of this as a fantasy from science fiction,” Kim reportedly told Trump.
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