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WORLD NEWS Thursday 14 June 2018

Trump-Kim summit raises new questions over South Korean role

By HYUNG-JIN KIM last year, Moon, a son of
KIM TONG-HYUNG North Korean refugees, has
Associated Press sought to take the lead in
SINGAPORE (AP) — When diplomatic efforts to end
South Korea's president the North Korean nuclear
shuttled between North Ko- standoff, which had been
rea and the United States to dominated by world pow-
broker their first-ever sum- ers including the U.S. and
mit, he faced both praise China.
and criticism over whether Provocative nuclear and
he was a peace-making missile tests by North Ko-
mediator or was helping rea last year initially gave
North Korea find ways to Moon little diplomatic room
weaken U.S.-led economic to maneuver. But he kept
sanctions. trying to reach out to North
A day after President Don- Korea, and eventually
ald Trump and North Kore- found a role as a mediator
an leader Kim Jong Un held after Kim offered in January
their summit in Singapore, to send a delegation to the
is it clearer whether Moon South Korean Winter Olym-
Jae-in played a positive or pics.
negative role? A quick an- After successful coopera-
swer: Probably not. Destination signs to North Korea's capital Pyongyang, top, and the United States, center, are seen tion at the Olympics, Moon
at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju near the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, Wednesday,
Assessments of Moon's di- June 13, 2018. sent special envoys to
plomacy have become Associated Press North Korea who later trav-
more divisive and complex, eled to Washington with
with Trump criticized in peace that "helped break tion for talks. When Trump out prior consultation with Kim's proposal for a summit
both South Korea and the down the last remaining realized there wasn't going South Korea, baffling many with Trump. Moon held talks
U.S. for the concessions he Cold War legacy on Earth." to be anything substan- who believe the U.S.-South with Kim in April at which
made to North Korea, while He acknowledged that tial in return, it was impos- Korea alliance, forged in Kim agreed to work toward
others believe the summit many difficulties are likely sible for him to back out blood during the 1950-53 "complete denucleariza-
will successfully prolong the to lie ahead but vowed to because he had already Korean War, should remain tion." He met Kim again in
current mood of detente. work together with the U.S., gone too far." strong throughout the push May when Trump said he
Meeting for about five North Korea and others to U.S. officials had worked for a negotiated end to the was withdrawing from the
hours, Trump and Kim ex- bring lasting peace to the hard to get North Korea to nuclear tensions. planned summit with Kim
changed an historic hand- Korean Peninsula. agree to "complete, verifi- "Why did South Korea and — a decision Trump quickly
shake, took a short stroll "We will never go back to able and irreversible" dis- the U.S. form an alliance reversed.
together, patted each the past again and never armament, and said they and stage military drills Experts now expect a tem-
other's backs and signed a give up on this bold journey. would not offer any major before the nuclear crisis porary peace to continue
summit agreement. Trump History is a record of people concessions until it took flared? It's because North since North Korea has prob-
promised to provide secu- who take action and rise to meaningful steps. Despite Korea has been belliger- ably won what it wanted
rity guarantees to the North a challenge," he said. those efforts, Trump an- ent," said Kim Taewoo, for- from Tuesday's summit and
and suspend joint military But conservatives in South nounced after the summit mer president of the Korea Trump is unlikely to back
drills with the South as long Korea slammed the sum- that he had agreed to sus- Institute for National Uni- down from summit deals
as negotiations with the mit, saying it failed to curb pend U.S. military drills with fication in Seoul. He said that he wants to portray as
North continue in "good North Korea's nuclear am- South Korea, something cancellation of the drills "is a diplomatic triumph.
faith." Kim, in return, agreed bitions. They said both North Korea has long de- really a bad idea ... and Analyst Hong Min at Seoul's
to work toward a vague Trump and Moon should manded. (Trump) betrayed our peo- Korea Institute for National
"complete denucleariza- be blamed for not specify- On Wednesday, North ple." Unification said critics of
tion of the Korean Penin- ing steps and deadlines for Korean state media said Asked to respond to Trump's the joint statement signed
sula." North Korea's nuclear dis- Trump had also agreed decision, Moon spokesman by Trump and Kim are miss-
Those moves were unthink- armament, allowing it time to the North's desire for a Kim Eui-kyeom said the al- ing a bigger point.
able even several months to perfect its weapons pro- step-by-step disarmament lies must consider a "variety He said it's meaningful in it-
ago, when the two unpre- gram. process with corresponding of ways to further facilitate self that the leaders of the
dictable leaders threat- "High expectations were U.S. concessions at each dialogue" during the nu- United States and North
ened to nuke each other met by low results," said step, rather than immedi- clear negotiations. He said Korea met, talked and
and traded a series of harsh Nam Sung-wook, a North ate disarmament as the South Korea is still trying to signed an agreement that
personal insults. Korea expert at Seoul's Ko- U.S. had initially sought. figure out the exact mean- will carry more weight and
Moon issued a statement rea University. "Moon, and Trump's agreement to ing and intent of Trump's significance than any pact
after the summit calling it a then Trump, were quick to suspend the military drills comments. previously made between
"huge step forward" toward bite on North Korea's invita- apparently came with- Since taking office in May the wartime foes. q