Trump discusses North Korea with South's Moon, asks what a 3rd Kim summit would yield

[webfact]

Trump discusses North Korea with South's Moon, asks what a 3rd Kim summit would yield

By Steve Holland and Joyce Lee

 

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York City, New York, U.S., September 23, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

NEW YORK/SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart held a summit in New York on Monday to discuss plans to restart U.S.-North Korea talks, as the allies prepare for talks in Seoul on sharing the cost of American soldiers stationed in South Korea.

 

Though negotiations with North Korea have stalled since a failed second summit between Trump and its leader Kim Jong Un in February, the North has said it is willing to restart talks in late September. However, no date or location have been set.

 

"There's been no nuclear testing at all," Trump told reporters as he met South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

 

"And the relationships have been very good. ... We want to see if we can do something. If we can, that'll be great. And if we can't, that's fine, we'll see what happens."

 

Moon said he hopes working-level negotiations between the United States and North Korea will be held soon to prepare for a third summit, but Trump said he would want to know what would result from a third summit with Kim before agreeing to hold it.

 

"Right now, people would like to see that happen. I want to know what's going to be coming out of it. We can know a lot before the summit takes place," Trump said.

 

North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Myong Gil, last week welcomed Trump's suggestion for a "new method" in talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programmes, saying he wanted to be "optimistic" the United States would present the "right calculation method".

 

Last week, Trump distanced himself from a suggestion by his former national security adviser, John Bolton, for a Libyan model of denuclearisation for North Korea, saying it "set us back very badly". Bolton was fired this month, with Trump naming Robert O'Brien as new national security adviser.

 

Before his sit-down with Moon, Trump said the two would discuss North Korea's repeated launches of short-range missiles in recent weeks.

 

"We didn’t have an agreement on short-range missiles. And a lot of people and a lot of countries test short-range missiles," he added. "There's nothing spectacular about that."

 

Talks on renewing a military cost-sharing deal with the United States will begin on Tuesday in Seoul, South Korea's foreign ministry has said.

 

South Korea has shouldered part of the cost of stationing 28,500 U.S. troops in the country since a 1991 pact. In March it signed a deal with the United States to pay 1.04 trillion won ($870.94 million) this year - an increase of 8.2% on the year.

 

The agreement expires at the end of this year.

 

Trump has repeatedly urged the South to contribute more to the cost. "South Korea is a very wealthy nation," he wrote last month on Twitter, adding, "Talks have begun to further increase payments to the United States".

 

($1=1,194.1100 won

 

(Reporting By Steve Holland and Joyce Lee; Editing by Chris Reese, Clarence Fernandez and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-24

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[Silurian]

10 minutes ago, webfact said:

Moon said he hopes working-level negotiations between the United States and North Korea will be held soon to prepare for a third summit, but Trump said he would want to know what would result from a third summit with Kim before agreeing to hold it.

Probably another "beautiful" letter...

 

... And not much else as previously shown.

[Tug]

10 minutes ago, Silurian said:

Probably another "beautiful" letter...

 

... And not much else as previously shown.

Agreed he allready gave away the farm for nothing in return and little Kim knows he needs a (win)desperately 

[neeray]

"Second verse same as the first" (Herman's Hermits).

And third, same as first.

 

But as Trump says "we'll see what happens".

We'll see, we'll see, we'll see. What a weak kneed cop out!

[Srikcir]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

"We didn’t have an agreement on short-range missiles. And a lot of people and a lot of countries test short-range missiles," he added. "There's nothing spectacular about that."

Actually there is a major problem and it's spectacular.

I'm sure the U.S. military knows this but whether Trump understands the problem or doesn't care because it runs counter to his PR image as a Winner and Deal Maker.

• Patriot missile-defense interceptors are estimated to have an engagement ceiling of about 25 miles while THAAD and Aegis missile defenses have an engagement floor of roughly 31 miles, which creates a gap that between the interceptors’ layers at altitudes between them.
• Although the very specifics of North Korea's new system are still unknown, it is reported to have the potential to extend North Korea’s multiple launch rocket capabilities, which currently stand at 118 miles, by at least another 37 miles, thus subjecting more U.S. and ROK targets to attack.

North Korea has also revamped other military capabilities such as submarines, one of which is claimed to be newly constructed and designed to carry three submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/korea-watch/north-koreas-recent-missile-and-projectile-tests-need-your-attention-74906

[bristolboy]

This is what happens when a head of state personally negotiates. His prestige is on the line. Which is why sensible heads of state, delegate this kind of thing to others. It would be difficult for any head of state to admit failure in such a situation, but for Trump, being Trump, that means it's out of the question.

[spidermike007]

3 hours ago, bristolboy said:

This is what happens when a head of state personally negotiates. His prestige is on the line. Which is why sensible heads of state, delegate this kind of thing to others. It would be difficult for any head of state to admit failure in such a situation, but for Trump, being Trump, that means it's out of the question.

In his case it would be hugely beneficial to delegate this responsibility to some who actually possesses negotiating skills. Trump is a horrible negotiator when it comes to anything beyond buying a small apartment building or selling a condo. 

 

Anyone who can be bought off with a few well placed compliments and some chocolate is a very dangerous person to allow as a principal negotiator. We saw how empty handed he walked away twice now. Kim has outplayed Trump every time. Just as Xi outplays him every time. Trump is in so far over his head. But his complete lack of reason and humility prevent him from seeing that. 

 

Hopefully he will be voted out in 14 months. And someone with some intellect, honor, decency, grace and skill can take his place.