Trump Agrees to Meet North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un - WSJ - 0 views
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President Donald Trump accepted an invitation to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the White House said Thursday, a meeting that would mark the first time a serving U.S. president has sat down with the leadership of the heavily militarized and diplomatically isolated country.
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American officials acknowledged that it was unusual for such a face-to-face session to be arranged without an extensive series of preparatory meetings between lower-ranking officials
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But a failure by Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim to make headway could lead each side to double down on their demands and perhaps heighten the possibility of conflict.
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while stressing that the U.S.’s ultimate goal was complete denuclearization by North Korea, subject to stringent verification.
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If high-level talks get under way, a key question will be what North Korea and the U.S. mean when they talk about “denuclearization.” The underlying assumption of American policy has long been that it means a North Korea without any nuclear weapons or a nuclear-weapons program.
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The North may define denuclearization as a long-term goal that would only be achieved after the U.S. withdraws troops from South Korea and effectively ends the U.S.-South Korean military alliance.
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“North Korean regimes have repeatedly used talks and empty promises to extract concessions and buy time,” he said. “We’ve got to break this cycle.”
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“If the talks between the two leaders do not go well, it is not an excuse to justify military action for a situation that has no military solution.”
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They said Mr. Kim had confirmed that he was prepared to suspend nuclear weapons and missile tests and agreed to discuss eliminating his nation’s nuclear arsenal. They also said Mr. Kim wouldn’t object to U.S.-South Korean military maneuvers, scheduled to take place next month in the region.
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In a September appearance at the U.N., Mr. Trump said the U.S. would “totally destroy North Korea” if attacked and vowed that Mr. Kim would not survive the devastations. “Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself,” Mr. Trump said.