• Home
• /
• Opinion

Trump needs partners to keep talking to N Korea

How Trump wriggles out of this is to be seen. Will the US grant some concessions to Kim or will Trump up the rhetoric?

Engagement between two foes is only a means towards an end in the larger cause of peace. Both the United States and North Korea deserve credit for meeting and talking in Singapore in 2018 after threatening mutual nuclear annihilation the previous year.  US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, two very different personalities, came together briefly and the world heaved a sigh of relief. They served up a nice photo opportunity that both sides used to keep their respective home audiences happy and foes confused.
The optics were right but the specifics were not forthcoming. Even an armstice to end the Korean War wasn't concluded, though the sides agreed to work towards it with South Korea being the other party. Trump, the deal-maker that he prides himself to be, claimed he had wrangled major concessions from Kim. The North Korean side agreed to stop testing missiles that could be used to deliver its nukes. Denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula was also discussed, but a timeframe was missing from the joint communique put out by both sides.
The trouble with the engagement in June last year is that it is open to interpretation. Observers and the participating sides themselves could view it through a subjective prism. Spin cannot be far behind when results and progress are not seen on the ground. Pyongyang is getting restless with the process slowing due to Trump's domestic woes. A government shutdown and the loss of the Senate to the Democrats has put a wrench in his diplomatic efforts. Unlike the North Korean despot, the US president is subject to legislative scrutiny and checks-and-balances. Kim's speech on Tuesday, while indicating that US sanctions are hurting the regime, also serves as a warning to Trump that the despot is losing patience with the engagement process begun last year.
How Trump wriggles out of this is to be seen. Will the US grant some concessions to Kim or will Trump up the rhetoric? The best option is to rope in South Korea to play for time, engage with Kim and assuage his hurt feelings. A nuclear-free Korean Peninsula is a noble objective. To achieve it, the US needs to constantly engage with partners like Seoul to keep the focus on Kim and not fall foul of the regime. As they say, well begun is only half done.