The Singapore nuclear summit evidences lack of political will

Even though we witnessed a bit of political will from Kim Jong-Un when he expressed that he would not be doing more missiles testing or nuclear bombs, Trump wanted more. Trump expected that Kim Jong-Un would totally give up his nuclear weapons. But it is utopic that North Korea would let go of their leverage so easily.

   The Singapore nuclear summit, also known as the North Korea – United States Summit, had the world full of hope and expectation after setting a meeting between Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12, 2018. However, this hope began to fade after Kim threatened to cancel the summit if the United States did not cease their military exercises with South Korea. A week later, Trump cancelled the meeting with a letter addressed to Kim complaining about “open hostility”.

   The truth is that there is in fact an open hostility, and this hostility comes from both parts. The United States knows very well that the military exercises conducted along with South Korea have always been seen by East Asian neighbors as a direct threat and provocation. And the fact that they still continue to do so even after South Korea and North Korea are willing to put an end officially to their war. And the fact that the National Security Adviser John Bolton suggested to dismantle the North Korean nuclear program following the Libya model did not help either. North Korea, on the other hand, knows very well that the power they have at the moment comes only from their nuclear weapons. Without them, North Korea would lose relevance in the international arena and before its worst enemy, the United States. And Kim Jong-Un does not want to end up like his counterpart Muammar Qaddafi after having negotiated the denuclearization with George Bush.

   Even though we witnessed a bit of political will from Kim Jong-Un when he expressed that he would not be doing more missiles testing or nuclear bombs, Trump wanted more. Trump expected that Kim Jong-Un would totally give up his nuclear weapons. But it is utopic that North Korea would let go of their leverage so easily. Kim even promised he would destroy the place they use to test their nuclear missiles. And he did. Kim even summoned foreign media so that they could see with their own eyes the how he would destroy a facility used for nuclear testing. This place was the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. However, a couple of hour later, Donald Trump wrote a letter to Kim Jong-Un saying that the Summit was not to be celebrated anymore, saying that there was too much hostility from North Korea. So, Kim’s effort for showing some political will by destroying this nuclear testing site was not enough for an American administration who wanted it all.

   Does this mean that having some hope for North Korea’s denuclearization is naïve? Maybe. Even if North Korea decided to completely let go of their nuclear program, this process would probably take a couple of years. In other words, a couple of months is not enough time for this political game, because there is no mutual trust in the process, which is vital for any agreement to be consolidated. And the United States should know better, given their own past experience in trying to negotiate denuclearization with North Korea. Does this mean that they will go to war? Hopefully not. A war would only mean a great loss for everyone, and even a greater loss for the common people who will suffer the worst consequences of an armed (and possibly nuclear) conflict. For the sake of people’s safety, diplomacy is the right path. Will we witness a summit where North Korea and the United States finally reach an agreement? Even though it would be nice, it probably is not going to happen unless realistic negotiations take place face to face, and away from Twitter.  

Dott.ssa Ana Figueroa