JAMES DOBBINS: Does the Trump-Kim deal live up to the hype?
'The Trump-Kim meeting has produced the “freeze for freeze” bargain that China had been long urging. This is a modest result for all the fanfare, but one worth having'
The joint statement issued by the American and North Korean leaders after Tuesday’s Singapore summit is a shorter and weaker version of promises made by Kim Jong Un’s father and grandfather – and those made by the younger Kim to South Korean President Moon Jae-in less than two months ago. In the declaration signed with President Donald Trump, Kim promises “to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.” That echoes the 1991 statement, when the two Korean leaders at the time pledged not to “test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy or use nuclear weapons” or to “possess nuclear reprocessing and uranium enrichment facilities.”
In 1994, North Korea agreed with the United States to dismantle its nuclear reactors in exchange for an American promise not to attack the North, to end sanctions, to provide the North with alternative energy sources and to normalize relations between the two countries. 2000, Kim Jong Un’s father offered Secretary o...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.