© REUTERS/Leah MillisU.S. President Donald Trump during meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Metropole hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam February 28, 2019.
The Trump administration reportedly won't demand that North Korea disclose all the particulars of its nuclear program for now, dropping the request
ahead of the second US-North Korea summit, which kicked off in Vietnam. The move, which some have argued robs President Donald Trump's push for the "complete and irreversible" de-nuclearization of any merit, was reported by NBC News, which cited current and former US officials. The officials said that
it does not mean that Washington will not seek the full disclosure of all alleged ballistic missile sites and nuclear polygons in the future, but that it has decided to shelve the demand for now.With the second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in full swing, little is known about the agenda of the talks. It has been speculated profusely that the negotiations will focus on the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, considered to be the main pillar of the North Korean nuclear program.
According to officials cited by NBC,
Washington is pinning its hopes on "significant concessions" on the issue of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, responsible for churning out all of the reclusive nation's plutonium stockpile, as well as highly enriched uranium and tritium.Previously, the North Korean leader hinted that he is willing to use a potential scaling back of operations at Yongbyon as a bargaining chip to ease the burden of economic and financial sanctions. At an intra-Korean summit with his South Korean counterpart, President Moon Jae-in in September,
Kim signed a declaration stating that the North is willing to dismantle the site "as [long as] the United States takes corresponding measures" in accordance with the "spirit" of the first Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore.
However,
Washington has so far been reluctant to offer any sanctions relief, drawing anger from Pyongyang and stalling any further progress towards a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
There is little hope for a breakthrough this time. US officials have reportedly warned Trump against offering anything substantial in return.
Last week, the State Department
reaffirmed Washington's stance on the North Korea sanctions, saying that they would remain in place "until we've achieved our final result of fully, finally verified denuclearization."
While the Trump administration credits its campaign of "maximum pressure" for its rapprochement with Pyongyang, South Korea, a US ally in the region, has been calling on Washington to do its part in solving the Korean deadlock.
Moon
said in January that "bold action" from Pyongyang should coincide with the US partially lifting sanctions if the denuclearization efforts are to bear fruit.
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Behind the Headlines: Trump Wags the Iran Riot Dog, Kim Talks Korean PeaceUpdate (Feb. 28): No deal was
reached as both sides walked away from the summit:
Kim purportedly offered to dismantle a nuclear facility at Yongbyon in exchange for sanctions relief, but Washington demanded more comprehensive denuclearization that included multiple nuclear development-related sites. The two-day summit was aborted early after Kim and Trump failed to make headway on the contentious issue.
Trump admitted that he called Chinese president Xi Jinping for help in the negotiations with N. Korea, signaling that the discussions were not going well:
I actually called him just recently to say hey, you know, whatever you can do on this. But he's been very helpful at the border, and he's been very, very helpful, I think, with North Korea generally. Could he be a little more helpful? Probably, but but he's been very helpful.
Despite there being no deal Trump said that he was
promised by Kim that he wouldn't test weapons or anything nuclear-related:
"He said the testing will not start," Trump said of Kim. "He said he's not going to do testing of rockets or missiles or anything having to do with nuclear. And all I can tell is that's what he said, and we'll see."
Trump also
explained why he froze military drills on the Korean peninsula:
"I gave that up quite a while ago because it costs us $100 million every time we do it. We fly these massive bombers in from Guam," Trump said.
"Exercising is fun and it's nice they play their war games - and I'm not saying it's not necessary, because on some levels it is - but on other levels it's not. But it's a very, very expensive thing."
The
narrative coming from Team Trump is that Kim and North Korea "didn't do enough". From Mike Pompeo:
"We didn't get to something that ultimately made sense for the United States of America. I think Chairman Kim was hopeful that we would [reach an agreement]. We asked him to do more. He was unprepared to do that, but I'm still optimistic"
Ultimately "doing more" involves Kim agreeing to denuclearize completely. But as even Tulsi Gabbard points out, it's hard to blame Kim for refusing that "deal":
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Update (Feb. 28): No deal was reached as both sides walked away from the summit: Trump admitted that he called Chinese president Xi Jinping for help in the negotiations with N. Korea, signaling that the discussions were not going well: Despite there being no deal Trump said that he was promised by Kim that he wouldn't test weapons or anything nuclear-related: Trump also explained why he froze military drills on the Korean peninsula: The narrative coming from Team Trump is that Kim and North Korea "didn't do enough". From Mike Pompeo: Ultimately "doing more" involves Kim agreeing to denuclearize completely. But as even Tulsi Gabbard points out, it's hard to blame Kim for refusing that "deal":