North Korean leader Kim Jong-un seems to have taken a chapter from Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal, and literally used it against him. The chapter is titled ‘Use your leverage’ and Kim has used his leverage to get some big concessions from US President Donald Trump.
The world watched in awe when Trump shook hands with Kim in Singapore, a landmark in the history of the two nations. The day began with a lot of optimism towards the possibilities of what the summit may achieve. However, the outcome wasn’t very concrete and left many questions unanswered.
Any summit, between world leaders usually requires a long time to prepare. This is evident from the amount of time invested by former US Secretary of State John Kerry in negotiating the Iran nuclear deal under the Obama administration.
The summit in Singapore between Trump and Kim seems like a movie trailer. It is now that negotiations between the two countries will actually begin and Trump, by claiming that North Korea will denuclearise very quickly has created a wrong perception. Besides, global agencies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will also have to get involved, inspect Pyongyang’s nuclear site to make sure the use is limited to civilian energy production.
Although it is true that both leaders have walked the extra mile, it is still very short of the end goal and it would be premature to claim the Singapore summit to be a success.
The other important issue to be dealt with is North Korea’s human rights record. It is often cited as one of the most oppressive regimes. At the summit though, this did not gain much light. On being asked, Trump has said he believes Kim will do the right thing.
In the past North Korea had promised many reforms but always reneged on them. This puts a question mark whether the human rights issue will be over shadowed by denuclearisation goal. For an issue that Trump much highlighted in his rhetoric against North Korea, he seemed to share an unusual bonhomie with Kim.
Overall the summit in Singapore was a photo op moment. It has given Kim some legitimacy on the world stage with the President of a super power engaging with him. Some polls have shown that his image has improved in South Korea. People were seen waving at Kim while he was sightseeing in Singapore prior to meeting Trump. Assessment also shows us that the event although historic, lacked depth and didn’t produce anything solid. There were no time frames agreed upon. We’ll have to wait and see where the negotiations lead the two countries and to what extent US allies “ South Korea and Japan “ will go along with Washington.
