North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un meets with South Korean delegation
In a sign that he is backing off his previous and long maintained belligerent stance, North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un met with a South Korean delegation on March 5.
The above link is a press release by a North Korean news source, so it is hardly informative. This Reuters story has some information from the South Korean delegation:
Next month, North Korea and South Korea will have the first meeting between their leaders since 2007 at the border village of Panmunjom, said Chung Eui-yong, head of the South Korean delegation. “North Korea made clear its willingness to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and the fact there is no reason for it to have a nuclear program if military threats against the North are resolved and its regime is secure,” Chung told a media briefing.
Chung cited North Korea as saying it would not carry out nuclear or missile tests while talks with the international community were under way. North Korea has not carried out any such tests since last November. North Korea also is willing to discuss normalizing ties with the United States, Chung said.
This sudden willingness to talk, after more than a decade of war talk, strongly suggests that Trump’s hardline position, which subsequently forced China and others to follow, has had an effect.
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In a sign that he is backing off his previous and long maintained belligerent stance, North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un met with a South Korean delegation on March 5.
The above link is a press release by a North Korean news source, so it is hardly informative. This Reuters story has some information from the South Korean delegation:
Next month, North Korea and South Korea will have the first meeting between their leaders since 2007 at the border village of Panmunjom, said Chung Eui-yong, head of the South Korean delegation. “North Korea made clear its willingness to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and the fact there is no reason for it to have a nuclear program if military threats against the North are resolved and its regime is secure,” Chung told a media briefing.
Chung cited North Korea as saying it would not carry out nuclear or missile tests while talks with the international community were under way. North Korea has not carried out any such tests since last November. North Korea also is willing to discuss normalizing ties with the United States, Chung said.
This sudden willingness to talk, after more than a decade of war talk, strongly suggests that Trump’s hardline position, which subsequently forced China and others to follow, has had an effect.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
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1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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Kim’s change in behavior has less to do with responding to Trump’s actions as it has to do with the DPRK using “useful idiots” in the South to make the world naively believe there is a chance at a peaceful solution thereby allowing it more time to scale up its ICBM force and removing an immediate excuse for Trump (after the midterm election) to build up forces in preparation for attack thereby giving the US the amount of leverage to negotiate a favorable outcome on our terms or to remove the growing threat to us by force. It’s like game theory.
I wouldn’t trust Kim Jong Un as far as I could throw him and I’m surprised you’re putting so much confidence in press releases from his government.
Andrew_W: I agree with you. I am skeptical. However, my job is to report this meeting and the subsequent planned summit. I also must note that it still is a significant change in Kim Jong Un’s behavior, after more than a decade.
The media has been spinning this as a victory for South Korean diplomacy that was made all the harder due to Trump.
The Trump admin is skeptical of these new talks too, which is a good thing. Previous Presidents would take the talks as a victory and then stop the pressure. Will the Trump admin fall for this old trick by the North Koreans?
Dear Dictator Kim,
I am offering you a chance to survive. Simply provide all all chemical, biological and nuclear arms to my military representatives for safe disposal – tomorrow. Further, simply permit full inspection of any location, at any time, without delay within North Korea.
The United States offered this generous deal to a former dictator named Sadam. He refused and was captured in a small hole in the ground and later hung by his countrymen.
This is a limted time offer.
Sincerely,
Donald Trump
President of the United States
(Very different president than all the previous ones)