Whatever additional accommodations trump offered during this hastily pulled together meeting aside... kim got what he wanted...
commentary at Outside the Beltway: Much like the Singapore Summit last year and the failed Hanoi Summit then, today’s meeting at the DMZ was little more than a photo opportunity. As Korea expert Victor Cha said on MSNBC early this morning, ” meeting Kim at DMZ is like having the Super Bowl when you haven’t played a single game.” Ordinarily, summits like this are the end of a process, not the beginning. As we saw during the course of the Cold War and, most especially, the summits between American Presidents and Soviet leaders that took place from the Nixon Administration to the Reagan Administration, a meeting of this type occurs after months of negotiation between the two sides and, typically, results in the creation of some agreement that the two leaders can agree to. The summit, therefore, is the capstone of the diplomatic process, not the foundation, and the fact that it has been necessary for these two leaders to meet three times to try to revive a process that is doomed to fail as long as the United States continues to base its negotiating position on the completely unrealistic goal of unilateral denuclearization by the DPRK. It’s still possible, of course, for the United States to end up with an agreement with North Korea that would go a long way toward reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. For example, we could finally negotiate an end to the Korean War via a peace treaty that includes not just the DPRK and the United States but also China and South Korea. This treaty could conceivably include agreements that would reduce tensions along the Demilitarized Zone that would include the removal of troops on both sides that have spent the last 60 years and more on a hair trigger for war. Among other things, this would significantly reduce the risk to some of the most heavily populated areas of South Korea, which at the moment remain vulnerable to a North Korean military strike that could come with virtually no warning. Perhaps, this would make it possible for the United States to remove some of its forces in the future. Developments over the past year also offer a guide to what talks with the North Koreans could realistically achieve. For example, tensions on the Korean peninsula, which have been on a razor’s edge since the end of the Korean War and ramped up significantly during the tit-for-tat exchanges that took place between President Trump and the North Korean leader throughout 2017, have calmed down significantly over the past year. Additionally, the relationship between North and South Korea appears to be better than it has been in several years during which the DPRK was engaged in provocative action such as firing missiles at a South Korean naval base and attacking a South Korean naval vessel. Making those changes permanent would be a good thing. However, as I have noted before (see here, here and here), if the United States continues to insist that the ultimate goal of these talks is the idea that North Korea will give up its nuclear arsenal, then all of this is doomed to fail. https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/trump-and-kim-stage-another-photo-op-summit-at-the-dmz/
How dare those irresponsible Koreans go against the pro-war/ policeman of the war bi-lateral US foreign policy.
LOL at people lamenting a "propaganda victory" for Kim. Every single bit of "news" in North Korea has been a "propaganda victory" since the nation's inception. "OMG, North Koreans are gonna be even more brainwashed than yesterday!" Oh really? Didn't you think they were maxi-brainwashed already? P.S. I lived in China in 1990, and I can tell you: the American president cannot steer propaganda inside a Communist country like N. Korea. Matter of fact, Americans are often caricatured as capitalist warhawks with evil faces and top hats or helmets, not unlike how they were portrayed in Nazi propaganda. Simply showing a photo of an American with a normal face and body would kind of represent progress, from an American perspective. "Hey, he looks kinda like a normal human! But taller."
false equivalency plus, 1990 was before the age of internet and smart phones ur convenient equivalency only underscores how little you know about China vs. NK
So you're saying the internet is even functional in North Korea? The internet will be a force for freedom in North Korea? I disagree strongly. (Even the Chinese internet is totally f'ed, and they are light years ahead of N. Korea.)
I like to read the well-thought writings of learned people like David Frum. If I wanted to read the disjointed thoughts of someone that isn't expert on a topic I can always read your posts...
Good! You're writing your own thoughts now. Do you think "expert" David Frum gets paid for writing that stuff? P.S. Tweets do not qualify as well-thought writings. David Frum Great! You're posting the dude who invented "axis of evil"! Thanks, man.
to the under-informed sirbahu, who pretends that his living in China in 1990 makes him an expert in China / NK fyi in China. there are western media / businesses operations, western ex-pats western exchange students retiree communities catering to foreign citizens; retirees from Taiwan, HK, US, etc. western newspaper, books, movies, Music CIA assets in NK none u conveniently equating NK to China amounts to the dizzying height of ignorance !
Sure they can be. Its very possible to communicate in 280 or fewer characters. Frum (republican, former speechwriter for GWB, degrees from Yale, law degree from Harvard, formerly with National review, currently wan editor at The Atlantic, also writes books, so I guess he gets his money from The Atlantic, from the publisher of the books, from the people that buy his books, and people that pay for him to speak at events. Any other irrelevant questions?
Because I find his writings interesting and well thought out. Many of which I agree with. Any other irrelevant questions?
Yes. Why don't you try to make your own tweets and post them here? "Axis of evil" was not well thought out. Stop being his megaphone.
