By Brenna Sullivan
Joseph Yun’s story for Foreign Affairs magazine “Is a Deal with North Korea Really Possible?” pre-emptively reflected on how the summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un would pan out. He noted that the United States and North Korea would enter the summit from different positions. Yun said that Trump wanted to ask for complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization while Kim Jong-Un ultimately sought recognition on the survival of his regime and a release on the economic sanctions imposed by the United States. Both individuals saw themselves as the one with the greatest power- Trump with his “maximum pressure” sanctions and Kim Jong-Un coming from a position of implied nuclear threat.
However, what we have seen with the close of the summit is less of an apparent agreement and more of a vague façade of niceties, with Trump claiming to have a “special bond” with Kim Jong-Un and to view him as a lover of the North Korean people. While this is the first time a U.S. President has had a “diplomatic” encounter with North Korea, it is not necessarily without reason, as historically Kim Jong-Un and his predecessors have committed brutal human rights abuses with even the blood of an American on their hands.
Trump’s interest in negotiations with North Korea contradicts his nuclear policies elsewhere. He recently backed out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action which relieved Iran of economic sanctions with the phasing out of the country’s nuclear weapon stockpile. Our President needs to be more interested in international diplomacy on all fronts and between all countries rather than appeasing his own ego and his craving for recognition for his “accomplishment” of “negotiating” with a dictator. In addition, the inconsistency in our country’s Iran and North Korea policies makes us look like we have no core ideas in terms of interacting with the world.
Also of note, Trumps’ nuclear policies violate the spirit of a world bound by international law. The 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons bounds all signing countries, among them the United States, to work for the goal of nuclear disarmament. Trump’s withdraw from the JCPA and dedication to the nuclear modernization plans of his predecessor, President Barack Obama, violate the treaty and in turn inject even more disorder into the international system. Our geo-political rivals – like Russia and China – are modernizing their nuclear arsenals. The actions of nuclear armed states are unleashing a trend that could mean even more countries seeking nuclear weapons.
