Media Foreign Affairs and National Security 2018.10.19
Trump-Kim Meeting Is Set. What Now For Japan?
The article was originally posted on The Diplomat on May 16, 2018
On May 10, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet in Singapore on June 12. The announcement came shortly after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang for the second time to meet with Kim Jong-un and the dramatic return of the three Americans who were detained in North Korea. Preparation for the first-ever direct meeting between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader will no doubt intensify over the next several weeks.
The biggest focus for the upcoming Trump-Kim summit will be whether the two leaders can reach some kind of an agreement on how to deal with North Korea's nuclear program, and if so, what such an agreement might look like. For instance, although Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula when the two met for the North-South summit on April 27 (and Kim repeated his commitment in a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi the following week), there is great uncertainty about what Kim means by "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." Many in the United States have argued that North Korea's commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula means that Pyongyang, in exchange for giving up the nuclear weapons in their possession, will demand the removal of the U.S. nuclear umbrella over the Korean Peninsula (and in broader Northeast Asia, for that matter).
In fact, the kind of agreement over North Korea's nuclear program that may emerge following the Trump-Kim summit next month can have profound impact on Japan. ...read more (Linked The Diplomat website)
The biggest focus for the upcoming Trump-Kim summit will be whether the two leaders can reach some kind of an agreement on how to deal with North Korea's nuclear program, and if so, what such an agreement might look like. For instance, although Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula when the two met for the North-South summit on April 27 (and Kim repeated his commitment in a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi the following week), there is great uncertainty about what Kim means by "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." Many in the United States have argued that North Korea's commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula means that Pyongyang, in exchange for giving up the nuclear weapons in their possession, will demand the removal of the U.S. nuclear umbrella over the Korean Peninsula (and in broader Northeast Asia, for that matter).
In fact, the kind of agreement over North Korea's nuclear program that may emerge following the Trump-Kim summit next month can have profound impact on Japan. ...read more (Linked The Diplomat website)