Jane Zhang '21
New light has been shed on the highly anticipated, mysterious summit meeting that was scheduled to take place between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in three to four weeks. South Korea’s presidential office released a statement this past Sunday, stating that Kim Jong Un will shut down his nuclear test site in May and have cordially extended an invite to all journalists and experts from South Korea and United States to North Korea to ensure “transparency” around the closure.
This statement came from a landmark summit between North Korea and South Korea on Friday in a demilitarized area, the first time a North Korean leader set foot in South Korean territory since the Korean War in 1953. During the meeting, Kim Jong Un said he is “not the kind of person who will use nuclear weapons against the South or the US across the Pacific” and that “if mutual trust with the US could be established through frequent meetings, then an end to the war and non-aggression is promised”.
Friday’s summit meeting lead to North and South Korea issuing a joint statement committed to complete denuclearization of the peninsula, advocacy of the end of the Korean War, and the start of a “new era of peace”. Indeed, Kim Jong Un previously announced the termination of North Korea’s nuclear testing program and the shuttering of the Punggye-ri complex.
Despite the promising results this meeting has delivered, critics are still skeptical of North Korea’s sincerity in sticking to their promise of denuclearization. Some say that Kim Jong Un’s definition of the term “denuclearization” might differ from that of US’s, but US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who met Kim in Pyongyang recently, has rebutted the claim by reassuring the public that Kim Jong Un is prepared to work towards denuclearization and understand clearly the goal of the mission.
The Trump administration is taking a more cautious approach towards the situation, as it is eager to pursue a breakthrough but at the same time remaining aware of North Korea’s broken promises in the past. If North Korea is willing to offer full cooperation and follows through with its promise, then President Trump will very likely be crowned as “peacemaker of the century”, as previous presidential administrations and diplomatic efforts have all failed to eliminate the threat North Korea’s nuclear power poses. Indeed, Trump is already giving himself credit for breaking the ice and making steady progress. During a Michigan rally this past Saturday, he said to the crowd: “One of the fake news group said to me this morning ‘What do you think President Trump had to do with it?’ I’ll tell you what. Like, how about everything?”, which resulted in the crowd chanting “Nobel! Nobel!”, in reference to the Nobel Peace Prize. President Trump has taken a lot of heat from the Special Counsel investigation, the statement of porn star Stormy Daniels and the prosecution of his personal attorney Michael Cohen, but if things go smoothly as promised with Kim Jong Un, he is more than likely to redeem his reputation or even secure a second term in the office.