TRUMP FAILURE - North Korean Summit

The build-up:

"Can U.S. post-war relationship with Vietnam serve as a model for North Korea?" PBS NewsHour 2/26/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In Vietnam, President Trump is preparing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un -- and the summit's location isn't a mere coincidence.  Indeed, U.S. officials are touting the rapprochement and economic ties that now exist between the U.S. and Vietnam, only decades after brutal warfare divided them.  Nick Schifrin reports on whether U.S.-Vietnam relations can serve as a model for North Korea.

"In Hanoi, Trump looks to develop a ‘phased’ North Korean denuclearization" PBS NewsHour 2/27/2019

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SUMMARY:  Last June's summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un marked the first time a sitting U.S. President met a North Korean leader.  Now the two are convening in Vietnam, whose economic resurgence U.S. officials hope can serve as an incentive for North Korea to prioritize cooperation with the U.S.  Judy Woodruff talks to Nick Schifrin, who is reporting from Hanoi, about the summit's policy goals.

"What Trump’s personal relationship with Kim Jong Un means for U.S. policy" PBS NewsHour 2/27/2019

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SUMMARY:  Last June, President Trump called his first meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a new chapter in the historically adversarial relationship between the two nations.  Since then, American policy toward North Korea has evolved from demanding complete denuclearization to emphasizing peace on the Korean peninsula.  Nick Schifrin reports from Hanoi on how and why that change has taken place.

The collapse:

Kim sucker-punches Trump, again.  So much for the 'good relationship.'
Trump does not understand Kim.  Kim does NOT care about money issues, he ONLY cares about his personal power at home and the world, which overrides all other considerations.  Kim is not about to give up his ONLY negotiating tool, Nuclear Weapons.  After all, the only reason for the summit was Kim's Nuclear Weapons.

"After months of buildup, Hanoi talks conclude early — with no deal" PBS NewsHour 2/28/2019

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SUMMARY:  After 8,000 miles of travel and hours of high-stakes discussion, President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walked away from the Hanoi summit without a deal.  U.S. officials said that while North Korea agreed to reduce its nuclear facilities, their concessions didn't warrant the requested lifting of U.S. sanctions.  Nick Schifrin reports on the much-anticipated meeting's abrupt conclusion.

TRUMP POLICIES - Kim/Trump Marrygoround

"North Korea’s Kim promises ‘denuclearization,’ but where does diplomacy stand?" PBS NewsHour 1/1/2019

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SUMMARY:  Six months after a landmark summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seemed to keep the two nations from the precipice of war, Kim says North Korea won't make, test or give away nuclear weapons -- plus he's ready to meet Trump again.  Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Jenny Town of online policy journal 38 North discuss with Amna Nawaz.

ONE ON ONE - John Bolton on Trump Diplomacy

"John Bolton: North Korea has not ‘taken effective steps’ to denuclearize" PBS NewsHour 8/6/2018

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SUMMARY:  National Security Adviser John Bolton on Monday criticized North Korea’s denuclearization efforts, saying leader Kim Jong Un was not living up to the commitment he made to President Donald Trump at their June meeting in Singapore.

“What was significant about Singapore was the North Korean commitment to denuclearize, and they have not taken effective steps to do that,” Bolton said in an interview with PBS NewsHour correspondent Nick Schifrin.  Closing the Punggye-ri nuclear test site with no international observers present, as North Korea did in May shortly before the summit, does not qualify, he said.

After the summit in Singapore, critics argued Trump failed to reach a substantive deal with Kim on winding down North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.  The President and senior administration officials have claimed the meeting was a success.

Bolton said the Trump administration was working to send Secretary of State Mike Pompeo back to Pyongyang to meet with Kim again.  Pompeo was in Singapore for the summit and has led the United States’ negotiating effort.

“We’re not looking for rhetoric here.  We’re looking for performance of North Korea’s own commitment made to us, made to South Korea beforehand, to denuclearize,” Bolton said.

KOREA - The North-South Summit

"At summit, Kim Jong Un pledges to not repeat ‘unfortunate history’" PBS NewsHour 4/27/2018

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SUMMARY:  Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea since the Korean War 65 years ago.  The official talks focused heavily on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.  President Moon Jae-in said that he and Kim shared the goal of ridding “the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons through complete denuclearization."  Judy Woodruff reports.

"Does denuclearization mean the same thing to North and South Korea?" PBS NewsHour 4/27/2018

Short answer, NO.

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SUMMARY:  The meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas along the heavily fortified border marked a day of diplomacy after months of war talk.  Judy Woodruff talks to former State Department official Frank Jannuzi, and Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about the significance of the meeting and how it sets up the summit between Kim Jong Un and President Trump.

NORTH KOREA - The Meeting

I trust Kim Jong Un about as far as I can pickup Trump and throw him.

"Pompeo mum on Kim Jong Un meeting amid confirmation process" PBS NewsHour 4/18/2018

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SUMMARY:  CIA director and secretary of state-designate Mike Pompeo met secretly with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over Easter weekend, President Trump confirmed on Wednesday.  At his recent confirmation hearing, Pompeo spoke hopefully about the upcoming Trump-Kim summit, never mentioning in public or behind closed doors that he had personally already met with Kim.  William Brangham reports.

"Trump strikes optimistic tone on North Korea, thanks Japan’s Abe for his role" PBS NewsHour 4/18/2018

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SUMMARY:  President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met reporters at Mar-a-Lago Wednesday evening, where Trump said that he would be doing everything possible to make his anticipated meeting with the leader of North Korea "a worldwide success."  Yamiche Alcindor joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the President’s remarks and the relationship between Trump and Abe.

"North Korea willing to discuss dismantling nuclear program, says Trump official" PBS NewsHour 4/18/2018

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SUMMARY:  There’s no doubt that President Trump and Kim Jong Un intend to meet, said Victoria Coates, special assistant to the President, who noted that the tone coming out of North Korea is making the Trump administration “very hopeful.”  Coates joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the meeting between CIA Director Mike Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the potential for denuclearization and more.