Mid-June Kim Jong-un/Trump Summit Scheduled
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
What matters is whether anything positive can be accomplished through talks and their aftermath – not where and when a summit is held.
Based on seven decades of US hostility toward the DPRK, prospects aren’t encouraging – especially because Washington targets all sovereign independent governments for regime change.
Trump suggested possibly holding talks in Peace House on the South Korean side of Panmunjom in the DMZ where late April inter-Korean summit talks took place.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, Singapore was chosen as the venue for Kim and Trump. The US president confirmed it, saying talks will take place on June 12 in the city-state/island country on June 12, days after the June 8 and 9 G7 summit.
On May 22, South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet with Trump in Washington ahead of the planned DPRK/US summit.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang issued a statement, saying “(w)e hope that all parties will seriously consider the ‘dual-track’ approach China proposed, and work hard to maintain the positive momentum to resolve issues on the peninsula.”
He referred to a joint Beijing/Moscow proposal for North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons development along with Washington suspending provocative regional military exercises – rejected by neocon hawks running Trump’s warmaking agenda.
On Sunday, the DPRK’s Korean Central News Agency cited a Foreign Ministry spokesman, warning against provoking Pyongyang with hostile rhetoric and military threats, stressing Washington shouldn’t mistake “the peace-loving intention of the DPRK as a sign of weakness.”
On Tuesday, Beijing’s Xinhua said President Xi Jinping and Kim met for talks in Dalian, China, a coastal city in Liaoning Province on May 7 and 8.
Both leaders discussed issues relating to bilateral relations, April inter-Korean talks, and the planned Kim/Trump summit. Xi was quoted saying after meeting with Kim in March and May that “China-DPRK relations and the Korean Peninsula situation have made positive progress.”
Kim made similar comments, stressing he’s committed to “the principle of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula…possible (only) after the relevant parties gave up hostile policy in relation to Pyongyang and threats to its security.”
It wasn’t achieved earlier and won’t likely be ahead given Washington’s rage for global dominance.
That’s the key issue facing Kim in talks with Trump – along with knowing Washington can never be trusted, the lesson driven home again with the US president withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.
Can North Korea hope to fare better than Tehran? Chances are virtually nil!
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