-Source-Time-
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-In agreed on a joint declaration on the future of the Korean peninsula last week after their third summit — including the intent to make it a “land of peace free from nuclear weapons and nuclear threats”. Unfortunately, we still have many more questions than answers. Here are five of them:
1. What exactly do we mean by “denuclearization”?
Three months after the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore, we still don’t know how Kim Jong-un defines this concept. Does it mean complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization (or “CVID”) of North Korea’s 60-some nuclear weapons? That’s what the U.S. State Department said after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was sworn into office this past spring. But President Trump seemed content to accept much less at his Singapore summit meeting with Kim in June.
Kim was quick to seize that opening, which he did by returning the remains of over fifty American service members who died during the Korean War. He also opted not to display ICBMs during North Korea’s 70th anniversary military celebration in September. That was just enough to make sure Kim’s talks with South Korea and the U.S. didn’t fall apart… but not much beyond that. Last week’s summit hasn’t added much clarity, but enough of the principals are politically invested in the process to punt this question until absolutely necessary.
2. What impact will China’s escalating trade conflict with the U.S. have?
Meanwhile, China—North Korea’s benefactor, its main trading partner and link to the outside world—has spent the last few months locked in an intensifying trade war with the U.S. On Sept. 24, Trump imposed tariffs on $200 billion in imports from China, after having already imposed tariffs on $50 billion over July and August. He has also threatened tariffs on another $267 billion, which would effectively cover all U.S. imports from China. Beijing has retaliated with tariffs on $110 billion (once its additional tariffs kick-in) in imports from the U.S., and will Read more
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