The National Interest
Published on The National Interest (https://nationalinterest.org)

Home > North Korea and America’s Second Summit: Here’s What Soo Kim Thinks Will Happen

North Korea and America’s Second Summit: Here’s What Soo Kim Thinks Will Happen

Soldiers from North and South Korea verify the removal of guard posts on each side of the Demilitarized Zone, December 12, 2018. South Korean Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
  • Share on Facebook F
  • Share on Twitter L
  • Share on LinkedIn I
  • Subscribe to RSS R
  • Print
February 6, 2019 Topic: Security Region: Asia Blog Brand: Korea Watch Tags: Trump-Kim SummitNorth KoreaSouth KoreaDonald TrumpKim Jong-un

North Korea and America’s Second Summit: Here’s What Soo Kim Thinks Will Happen

"A deal as alluded to by our negotiators would likely leave behind a nuclear North Korea."

by Soo Kim Follow @mllesookim on Twitter L

Editor’s Note: Want more ideas on what will happen at the summit? Check out all 76 expert opinions we gathered here.

“President Trump is ready to end the war— it is over, it is done.” A key point Stephen Biegun drove home in his Stanford speech was the need to “close the door” on the Korean War, with the understanding that Washington has its work cut out in the next few weeks to find a workaround to the core bilateral issue of denuclearization. We expect a series of meetings between the U.S. and North Korea until Vietnam.

From Biegun’s statement, we are inclined to think that the Trump administration has resolved to find a settlement with the Kim regime, one that potentially allows North Korea to make fragmentary concessions on its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for windows to economic engagement—and perhaps, “much, much more.” 

Trump-Kim 2.0 portends Washington’s concessions in view of a broader perspective and goodwill vision in weaving and integrating Pyongyang into Northeast Asia’s regional tapestry. We know that in the coming weeks the two sides will determine what “corresponding measures” Washington will slide across the table to Pyongyang—a roadmap of negotiations to narrow the divide between the U.S. and North Korea. Small or significant, a deal as alluded to by our negotiators would likely leave behind a nuclear North Korea, closer than ever to becoming legitimized as a de facto nuclear state, with Kim Jong-un in better international standing as a peace-loving leader.

Soo Kim is an opinion contributor at The Hill and a former CIA North Korea analyst where she focused on the country's leadership, nuclear proliferation and propaganda. She was a 2015 National Security Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where she authored a monograph on the South Korean nuclear program. You can follow her on Twitter at @mllesookim.

Image: Reuters

A man looks at a street monitor showing a news report about North Korea's missile launch, in Tokyo, Japan, November 29, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

North Korea: We Asked 27 Experts What They Think Will Happen in 2019

December 20, 2018

by Harry J. KazianisJohn Dale Grover

Source URL:https://nationalinterest.org/blog/korea-watch/north-korea-and-america%E2%80%99s-second-summit-here%E2%80%99s-what-soo-kim-thinks-will-happen