North Korea: Punching Above Its Weight
“It ain’t over ’til it’s over” when it involves North Korea. It is worse when the unpredictability of Kim Jong-un is pitted against that of U.S. President Donald Trump. This leaves not just the outcome of the U.S.-North Korea summit in doubt, but even the proposed Kim-Trump meeting on June 12 — for several reasons — till it actually takes place.
First, there is a history of failures with the Koreas summits. Both the 2000 and 2007 Sunshine Policy efforts were aborted due to intransigence on several fronts.
Second, it was only in January that Kim threatened that his nuclear launch button was “always on the table.” In response, Trump boasted that his nuclear button was “much bigger” and “more powerful” than Kim’s.
From such hawkish outbursts to a complete turnaround in favor of negotiations indicates that there is room for yet another reversal from either of the leaders. The two leaders’ egos were also evident when each claimed playing a bigger role than the other in making the Koreas summit a reality.
