Trump says summit removed North Korean nuclear threat; Democrats doubtful

[webfact]

Trump says summit removed North Korean nuclear threat; Democrats doubtful

By David Brunnstrom

 

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un hold a signing ceremony at the conclusion of their summit at the Capella Hotel on the resort island of Sentosa, Singapore June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat and his top diplomat offered a hopeful timeline for a "major disarmament," despite scepticism at home that Pyongyang will abandon its nuclear weapons following this week's summit.

 

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a joint statement after their historic meeting in Singapore on Tuesday that reaffirmed the North's commitment to "work towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" and gave U.S. guarantees of security to North Korea.

 

Democratic critics in the United States said the agreement was short on detail and the Republican president had made too many concessions to Kim, whose country is under U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and weapons programs and is widely condemned for human rights abuses.

 

Just over half of Americans say they approve of how Trump has handled North Korea, but only a quarter think the summit will lead to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday.

 

North Korea's state media hailed the summit as a success, including highlighting Trump's surprise announcement after the meeting that the United States would stop military exercises with South Korea, which the North has long sought.

 

Despite the lack of detail in the summit agreement, Trump stressed at a news conference afterward that he trusted Kim to follow through. He returned to Washington early on Wednesday and hailed the meeting, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, as a major win for American security.

 

"Everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office," Trump tweeted. "There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!"

 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is charged by Trump with leading follow-on negotiations, said the United States hopes to achieve "major disarmament" by North Korea within the next 2-1/2 years.

 

Democratic lawmakers pointed out that North Korea has often made similar statements in the past about "denuclearization," all the while developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that could be capable of striking the United States.

 

'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED'?

"One trip and it's "mission accomplished," Mr. President? North Korea still has all its nuclear missiles, and we only got a vague promise of future denuclearization from a regime that can't be trusted," said Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.

 

"North Korea is a real and present threat. So is a dangerously naive president," he wrote on Twitter.

 

Senator Chris Van Hollen, also a Democrat, said of Trump's tweet about North Korea no longer presenting a threat: "This is truly delusional."

 

The summit statement provided no details on when Pyongyang would give up a nuclear weapons programme or how the dismantling might be verified. Sceptics of how much the meeting achieved pointed to the North Korean leadership's long-held view that nuclear weapons are a bulwark against what it fears are U.S. plans to overthrow it and unite the Korean Peninsula.

 

Speaking to reporters on a trip to Seoul, where he went to brief South Korean officials, Pompeo was asked if he would like to accomplish major nuclear disarmament within Trump’s current term, which ends in January, 2021. He replied:

 

"Oh yes, most definitively. Absolutely ... you used the term major, major disarmament, something like that? We're hopeful that we can achieve that in the 2-1/2 years."

 

The United States has long insisted on complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization by North Korea, but in the summit statement, North Korea committed only to the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” phrasing it has used in the past.

 

North Korea has often rejected unilateral nuclear disarmament, instead referring to the denuclearization of the peninsula. That has always been interpreted in part as a call for the United States to remove its "nuclear umbrella" protecting South Korea and Japan.

Pompeo bristled at a question about why the words “verifiable” and “irreversible” were not in the summit joint statement, in the context of denuclearization.

 

“It’s in the statement. You’re just wrong about that... Because complete encompasses verifiable and irreversible. I suppose you could argue semantics, but let me assure you that it’s in the document,” Pompeo said.

 

Pressed on how the agreement would be verified, he said:

 

“Of course it will...I find that question insulting and ridiculous and frankly ludicrous.”

 

'SAVE A FORTUNE'

Despite Trump's assertion about the North Korean nuclear threat being over, a senior U.S. official responsible for studying the North Korean military said the U.S. intelligence assessment of the nuclear and other military threat posed by North Korea to U.S. and allied forces and bases in Asia and the northwest Pacific remains unchanged.

 

Such assessments are changed only on the basis of visible or other changes in a nation’s military state, such as the movement or elimination of weapons or troops, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

In a post-summit announcement that appeared unexpected even to South Korea's President Moon Jae-in,Trump said on Tuesday the United States would stop military exercises with South Korea while North Korea negotiated on denuclearization.

 

"We save a fortune by not doing war games, as long as we are negotiating in good faith - which both sides are!" he later wrote on Twitter.

 

U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called the cost reasoning "ridiculous," telling CNN, "It's not a burden onto the American taxpayer to have a forward deployed force in South Korea."

 

"It brings stability. It's a warning to China that you can't just take over the whole region. So I reject that analysis that it costs too much, but I do accept the proposition, let's stand down (on military exercises) and see if we can find a better way here."

 

The United States maintains about 28,500 soldiers in South Korea, which remains in a technical state of war with the North after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.

 

There was some confusion over precisely what military exercises Trump had promised to halt.

 

The U.S.-South Korean exercise calendar hits a high point every year with the Foal Eagle and Max Thunder drills, which both wrapped up last month. Another major exercise is due in August.

 

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom in Seoul; Additional reporting by John Walcott, Susan Heavey and Mary Milliken in Washington and Chris Kahn in New York; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-14

 

[ChidlomDweller]

North Korea has made these promises many times before, going back to at least 1985.  When push comes to shove, Kim's game is his own survival.  He's young and presumably wants to die a natural death.  Even if he wants to modernize his country along the Chinese model, he needs a game plan that keeps him alive and in charge the next 50 years.  It's not easy being a dictator.

 

Trump offers full normalization, but is that what he and the clique around him wants?   It's a risky scenario where things could quickly spiral out of control and he finds himself in front of a fire squad, a lynch mob, or is assassinated in a coup.  Even if just for his self-preservation, this will stay a brutal regime not acceptable by international norms.  

 

Most likely he's just buying time again, giving other countries like China an excuse to weaken enforcement of sanctions, while he makes minor economic reforms.  As long as he has nuclear weapons, other governments will have no choice but to kick this can down the road.  

 

 

 

 

[ChidlomDweller]

Well what's for sure is if Obama had had exactly the same summit, Republicans would be shouting TREASON!!! off the top of their lungs.  

 

Think about it.

[simple1]

Do you include the S.K. and Japanese governments who have both expressed concerns regarding Trump's unilateral announcements? Also it may assist to review Fact Checks of Trump's after summit press conference comments, usual litany of lies and misinformation.

[DoctorG]

It is certainly too early to be proclaiming success stories but Trump has at least opened the possibility of success, something no other POTUS has managed.

Sad to see Dems in Congress complaining that there is no detailed agreement when this is in fact an important first step.

Don Lemonhead and CNN "experts" are doing their usual belittling rants, so no surprises there.

[rudi49jr]

9 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

It is certainly too early to be proclaiming success stories but Trump has at least opened the possibility of success, something no other POTUS has managed.

Sad to see Dems in Congress complaining that there is no detailed agreement when this is in fact an important first step.

Don Lemonhead and CNN "experts" are doing their usual belittling rants, so no surprises there.

Have you even seen the press conference Trump gave afterwards? If I were the president of a kindergarten it would have made my toes curl, but this was the POTUS talking. It's just embarrassing that Trump said the nuclear threat of NK had disapeared. Kim must be laughing his ass off ...

[bristolboy]

1 minute ago, DoctorG said:

It is certainly too early to be proclaiming success stories but Trump has at least opened the possibility of success, something no other POTUS has managed.

Sad to see Dems in Congress complaining that there is no detailed agreement when this is in fact an important first step.

Don Lemonhead and CNN "experts" are doing their usual belittling rants, so no surprises there.

And of course there's downside to the President of the United States committing his prestige to a preliminary discussion, the kind of think usually reserved for anonymous diplomats. He's now on the hook for a successful outcome. Unlike the leaders of China and North Korea, Trump has an electorate to answer to. Other Presidents had the basic common sense not to put themselves in this position. 

As for your "possiblity of success" comment. At the times actual detailed signed agreements were previously concluded, was there no "possibility of success." Your statement is just another way of saying that no one can predict the future. That's a very slender reed to hang your expections from.

[lannarebirth]

6 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

And of course there's downside to the President of the United States committing his prestige to a preliminary discussion, the kind of think usually reserved for anonymous diplomats. He's now on the hook for a successful outcome. Unlike the leaders of China and North Korea, Trump has an electorate to answer to. Other Presidents had the basic common sense not to put themselves in this position. 

As for your "possiblity of success" comment. At the times actual detailed signed agreements were previously concluded, was there no "possibility of success." Your statement is just another way of saying that no one can predict the future. That's a very slender reed to hang your expections from.

 

In your first paragraph what you see as a weakness I see as a strength . There are no risk free returns in this world anymore.  As for the "possibility of success", who knows?

[Emster23]

Kim also promised "I won't **** in your mouth"

[bristolboy]

Just now, lannarebirth said:

 

In your first paragraph what you see as a weakness I see as a strength . There are no risk free returns in this world anymore.  As for the "possibility of success", who knows?

Really? So Trump will have no incentive to lie about the results of negotiations. He's already lying about the inspection process. And he'll have no incentive to accommodate hostile interests elsewhere? If Trump was actually extremely knowledgeable about the situation, you might have half a point here. But it's clear he's utterly ignorant. Given his lifelong practice of promoting his own immediate interests without regard to those of the community, you actually believe this is a good thing?

[lannarebirth]

4 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Really? So Trump will have no incentive to lie about the results of negotiations. He's already lying about the inspection process. And he'll have no incentive to accommodate hostile interests elsewhere? If Trump was actually extremely knowledgeable about the situation, you might have half a point here. But it's clear he's utterly ignorant. Given his lifelong practice of promoting his own immediate interests without regard to those of the community, you actually believe this is a good thing?

 

As you describe it, no that wouldn't be a good thing. I'm thinking more about what has been committed to paper and what the immediate follow up on that will be. Obviously it is an evolving situation. If there's pushback within this first month or two we'll know that this was an exercise in futility, but I remain somewhat hopeful as SK and Japan become more involved.

Edited June 14, 2018 by lannarebirth

[bristolboy]

Just now, lannarebirth said:

 

As you describe it, no that wouldn't be a good thing. I'm thinking more about what has been commited to paper and what the immediate follow up on that will be. Obviously it is an evolving situation. If there's pushback within this first month or two we'll knoiw that this was an exercise in futility, but I remain somewhat hopeful as SK and Japan become more involved.

I don't know what basis for hope there is based on the document that was signed. Just vague generalities that commit no one to anything apart from further talks. And there was a report in the LA Times that Trump asked North Korea to reach an agreement by 2020 so he could use that for the general elections. North Korea balked. 

[rudi49jr]

2 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

In your first paragraph what you see as a weakness I see as a strength . There are no risk free returns in this world anymore.  As for the "possibility of success", who knows?

So Trump's strength is to heap praise on and trust a vicious dictator and mass-murderer to get rid of his nukes? Kim, as his father and grandfather before him, doesn't give two hoots about the people of NK, his only interest is to stay in power for as long as he can.

[lannarebirth]

28 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

I don't know what basis for hope there is based on the document that was signed. Just vague generalities that commit no one to anything apart from further talks. And there was a report in the LA Times that Trump asked North Korea to reach an agreement by 2020 so he could use that for the general elections. North Korea balked. 

 

Trump specifically said he wanted a certain date to be used for electioneering? Or is it that 2020 is a nearby future date anyway?

[lannarebirth]

25 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

So Trump's strength is to heap praise on and trust a vicious dictator and mass-murderer to get rid of his nukes? Kim, as his father and grandfather before him, doesn't give two hoots about the people of NK, his only interest is to stay in power for as long as he can.

 

As much asI can I try not to let my feelings about process get in the way of substance. Obviously there will be limitations to that way of thinking. Anyhow, here we get to see the ugly process first without seeing if it will lead to substantive success. That calls for patience and forebearance. Something in short supply on the World Wide Web.  BTW, when I saw I am hopeful, I still place chance of success at less than 50%. I am hopeful nevertheless.

[Opl]

"One has to imagine that, in Pyongyang right now, Kim Jong Un and his advisers are pulling up Trump’s Twitter feed. Fresh off a meeting in which they committed to nothing concrete and the president of the United States implicitly acknowledged North Korea as a nuclear-weapons power by noting their “very powerful nuclear weapons” at a press conference, they might be marveling at Trump’s boasts and asking themselves, “Is that all it took?”

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/06/donald-trump-actually-seems-to-believe-he-denuclearized-north-korea/562715/

[rudi49jr]

5 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

As much asI can I try not to let my feelings about process get in the way of substance. Obviously there will be limitations to that way of thinking. Anyhow, here we get to see the ugly process first without seeing if it will lead to substantive success. That calls for patience and forebearance. Something in short supply on the World Wide Web.  BTW, when I saw I am hopeful, I still place chance of success at less than 50%. I am hopeful nevertheless.

Don't get me wrong, I am totally with you on this and I hope there will be a real 'detente', but given the situation I seriously doubt it.

[Tug]

I to hope but look at the players and the ambiguity of the documents the Koreans will cooperate as little as possible and Donald already gave up a huge bargaining chip doesn’t look good just more fodder for his base we paid dearly for not much but hope I will and pray as well

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

And of course there's downside to the President of the United States committing his prestige to a preliminary discussion, the kind of think usually reserved for anonymous diplomats. He's now on the hook for a successful outcome. Unlike the leaders of China and North Korea, Trump has an electorate to answer to. Other Presidents had the basic common sense not to put themselves in this position. 

As for your "possiblity of success" comment. At the times actual detailed signed agreements were previously concluded, was there no "possibility of success." Your statement is just another way of saying that no one can predict the future. That's a very slender reed to hang your expections from.

No, he is not on the hook.

 

He only did this for his fanbase, where his prestige has grown considerably, as with some doubters.

 

This has nothing to do with NK, SK or the USA, nothing to do with peace or nuclear weapons, this is only about Trump.

[expat_4_life]

If ever there was an issue that requires us all to set aside our politics and bias, this qualifies.

 

I hate the headline "Doubtful" .... why not be "Hopeful".

 

If the result is ending the Korean War, removing US troops, lifting sanctions, stopping military

exercises, and averting nuclear catastrophe, Trump could french kiss Kim for all I care.

[lannarebirth]

55 minutes ago, expat_4_life said:

If ever there was an issue that requires us all to set aside our politics and bias, this qualifies.

 

I hate the headline "Doubtful" .... why not be "Hopeful".

 

If the result is ending the Korean War, removing US troops, lifting sanctions, stopping military

exercises, and averting nuclear catastrophe, Trump could french kiss Kim for all I care.

 

There used to be an expression in America stating "politics stops at the water's edge". Meaning as fierce as our differences may be with respect to domestic policy pursuits we should, as much as possible be united with respect to our pursuit of foreign policy outcomes. I think those days are past.

 

Probably a combination of factors has led up to it. We've been in a perpetual war for decades now. Justifications for war mostly seem dubious, as do justifications for half assed peace treaties. That, and we're an extremely privileged group of people who aren't out scraping every day in order to put food on our table and are cynical and bone idle. We're tribal and know it alls and know nothings. We read the latest lies from whichever news source most closely reaffirms our entrenched views and spew it out here because we've nothing better to do.  And let's face it. Some people are just a-holes. Sumthin' like that.

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2018 by lannarebirth

[Radar501]

2 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

So Trump's strength is to heap praise on and trust a vicious dictator and mass-murderer

Not the first time a U.S. president has had a sit-down chat with such a monster........

 

 

[ostyan]

Never believe to a communist, leftist or liberal.

If Kim promised this, he is the biggest modern era liar.  If Trump believes, he is one of the stupidest leaders of the USA.  ( big competition ? )

[bristolboy]

2 hours ago, expat_4_life said:

If ever there was an issue that requires us all to set aside our politics and bias, this qualifies.

 

I hate the headline "Doubtful" .... why not be "Hopeful".

 

If the result is ending the Korean War, removing US troops, lifting sanctions, stopping military

exercises, and averting nuclear catastrophe, Trump could french kiss Kim for all I care.

Except that the pressure on Trump to claim a success could actually make things worse

[simple1]

3 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

 

Trump specifically said he wanted a certain date to be used for electioneering? Or is it that 2020 is a nearby future date anyway?

Timeline confirmed by SecState. Makes logical sense Trump wishes the matter resolved prior to 2020 elections, it would not be an arbitrary timeline selected.

 

On the denuclearisation process Trump claimed he had read a lot of material, yet was unable to clearly articulate his understanding when asked by the media, including some of his comments on the process later debunked as nonsense.  e.g. an irreversible process once 10% completed.

[lannarebirth]

3 minutes ago, simple1 said:

.  e.g. an irreversible process once 10% completed.

 

What does that mean?

[sanemax]

3 hours ago, expat_4_life said:

If ever there was an issue that requires us all to set aside our politics and bias, this qualifies.

I hate the headline "Doubtful" .... why not be "Hopeful".

If the result is ending the Korean War, removing US troops, lifting sanctions, stopping military

exercises, and averting nuclear catastrophe, Trump could french kiss Kim for all I care.

Ending the Korean war , removing U.S troops , lifting sanctions , stopping military exercises and adverting a nuclear war is a wrong and bad thing to happen because Trump was involved and everything that Trump does is wrong and bad .

[stevenl]

3 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Ending the Korean war , removing U.S troops , lifting sanctions , stopping military exercises and adverting a nuclear war is a wrong and bad thing to happen because Trump was involved and everything that Trump does is wrong and bad .

Please stop that nonsense.

 

You may not like posts doubting a real result has been achieved, but at the same time doubters have said they would love to see real results.

[simple1]

36 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

What does that mean?

From the text of Trump's after summit press conference (refer below), though commented upon in more detail elsewhere by Trump.

 

I used to discuss nuke with him all the time. He was a great expert. A great brilliant genius. Dr. John Trump. MIT sent me a book on my uncle. We used to talk about nuclear. You talk about a complex subject. It is not just get rid of the — rid of the nukes. When you hit a certain point, you cannot go back.

 

https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/12/17452624/trump-kim-summit-transcript-press-conference-full-text

 

A good opportunity for you to read the transcript. A test for you & others, how many misinformation / lies did Trump articulate in the press conference?

 

Edited June 14, 2018 by simple1

[sanemax]

2 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Please stop that nonsense.

 

You may not like posts doubting a real result has been achieved, but at the same time doubters have said they would love to see real results.

Not the way I see it , posters are trying to downplay the recent agreements , looking to be critical of every aspect , desperately trying to find negatives , suggesting that the agreement is just a meaningless piece of paper , refusing to give Triumph any credit .

   I get the impression that if Kim fired a rocket over Japan today , they would all be out on the streets celebrating .

   And the only reason is because Triumph is involved .

Had Obama achieved  this , you just know that they would have a completely different attitude