Superlatives had greeted the decision to convene the US-North Korea summit on 12 June. The mood-swing is complete as last Thursday’s fizzle ~ courtesy Donald Trump ~ reaffirms that what was billed as unprecedented shall not happen, after all. More accurately, both decisions of the US President appear to have been driven by the impetuous trait in his personality ~ his resolve to hold the meeting with the belligerent Kim Jong-un and now his determination to call it off.
Markedly, he has cancelled the “historic” meeting a day after he had concurred with a “phased reduction” of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. Ironically enough, the cancellation coincides with the North’s demolition of its nuclear test site ~ in itself a critical gesture on the part of Kim three weeks ahead of the scheduled summit.
The flip-flop, most importantly the quirky twist in international relations, must make the world wonder whether both sides were earnestly anxious to achieve peace in the Korean peninsula or were merely riveted to the grandstanding in Singapore. In the event, the words, “unprecedented” and “historic”, have turned out to be loosely-used expressions.
The White House has kept the world guessing over what transpired at the meeting between Trump and the South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, who had tried to play the role of an honest broker. Reports do suggest that the US President’s decision was unilateral, one that was unveiled without alerting President Moon, who had brought the two parties together and with the best of intentions.
Central to the tense outlook were the implications of de-nuclearisation, specifically whether it would be sweeping, as Kim would have preferred, or selective and thus applicable only to North Korea, as Trump desires. Given that fundamental disconnect over the core issue, any headway at the high table seemed unlikely at the threshold.
More the pity, therefore, that Seoul’s initiative wasn’t even given a try by Mr Trump though a “nuclear confrontation”, albeit verbal, at the high table has been averted. Has the US President been influenced by the hawks in his cabal, pre-eminently Vice-President Mike Pence? There are also suggestions that China’s President Xi Jinping has encouraged President Kim to adopt a thus far-and-no further approach, if not take a harsher stance. While responsibility for the cancellation lies with Mr Trump and those around him, the meeting between the North Korean leader and the Chinese President, which the White House says provoked the cancellation, also needs to be evaluated.
North Korea is a condemned regime, but it has appeared to be consistent ever since the summit was announced. Not so the US, however. The outlook is awesome, verily verging on renewed crisis. Trump’s assurance on Friday ~ “We’re talking to them (North Korea) now” ~ doesn’t readily inspire optimism.