Hi Ttbn,

Thanks for a good laugh :) We'll see, won't we ?

As for the Libyan Solution, Calwest, that knife up there arse bit might have focussed Kim's mind a bit: to give up everything, wait for a few years and THEN get a knife up your arse ? Yeah, that might work, thinks Trump. Moron. What is it about bullies ?

Joe

Need to remember that North and South Korea have both apparently long wanted a proper peace treaty to formally end the Korean War" However, the US has continually obstructed this to date. One important reason is it provides a pretext to keep a large military force close to China. Then is important to remember how the US caused massive destruction of infrastructure and killed millions of North Koreans during the Korean War for zero gain in territory. Since then, they have held regular military exercises with South Korea. Effectively rehearsing to invade the North and kill its leaders with the aim of installing a puppet government subservient to the US. Anyone who has watched US behaviour knows they cannot be trusted.

Seems to be the best solution is a formal treaty to end the Korean War and stopping military exercises hostile to the North. In return North Korea would stop nuclear testing. However, surrendering its capability to strike back with nuclear weapons would be suicide considering the long proven record of the US bullying countries without strong defences.

LM,

Everyone is perfectly aware of North Korea's modus operandi, and that they ran rings around Obama. However, the difference is that now Trump has his foot on Kim's throat. The sanctions that Trump has imposed on NK and on Chinese companies that break the sanctions is strangling NK's economy to the point where there is a real chance that Kim will be deposed and face a firing squad. What Trump has to offer for denuclearization is to lift the sanctions.

It also looks like NK is still keen for the meeting to go ahead and planning is still proceeding.

Hi SM,

Good one :) So if Kim completely denuclearises, he can maybe look forward to a firing squad ? Not a knife up his arse ? Or peace-loving Trump bombing the crap out of his country, targeting his palaces and government offices ? Yeah, that might work too.

And then Trump gets his Nobel Peace Prize ? Keep dreaming, SM :)

Cheers,

Joe

The article utterly misunderstands the dynamics in play here. There wasn't a single cause for cancellation of the talks but a multiple of issues such as NK dragging their feet on the pre-negotiation negotiations and Choe Son Hui's threats to scuttle the summit and return to nuclear confrontation. Unfortunately for the author, the race to blame Trump for everything by all those suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome meant that their claims to special understanding went out the window when the talks resumed.

But in the end, Trump's cancellation of the talks was part of the talks. Trump needs to make sure that the NK understands that he is prepared to walk away. In the past the NK has been able to sucker US leaders into becoming so concerned to get a deal that they end up settling for a lesser deal. Trump was showing that wasn't going to happen this time.

Two nations have, in the recent past, given up their nukes - Libya and Ukraine. Both were screwed over by those unutterable fools who ran US policy between 2008 and 2016. So, as with most things, the first thing Trump must do is fix the problems caused by his predecessor. This means convincing the NK that they can give up their nukes and remain safe.

The US has to insist on the Libyan solution while convincing Kim that he won't suffer Qaddafi's fate. In the Libyan deal, it gave up all its weapons and nuke programmes before it got any concessions. Clearly the NK would prefer a different approach ie give up a little, get a little, give up a bit more, get a bit more. That way they can keep some of their weapons and get rid of the most burdensome sanctions.

But Trump recognises this is a bad deal, and has shown he's prepared to walk away from such a deal.

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The deal the US will aim for will be a complete denuclearisation of NK, fully verified and verifiable followed by a lifting of sanctions. The added carrot is the prospect of massive US investment in NK. What hasn't been much mentioned to date is the prospect of removing most or all US troops from SK. Such a move would fit Trump's policy of America First but might be the clincher to get Kim to accept that he won't suffer Qaddafi's fate.

Kim's problem is two fold. He knows that a shooting war with the US is a sure path to the after-life. But he also knows that, as the sanctions bite harder, there must be a point where his people will say enough is enough and he suffers Causescu's fate. Die like Qaddafi, die like Ceausescu or perhaps find a way to become the saviour of his nation. There's quite a lot Trump can dangle before Kim.

The anti-Trump bridage will never accept that the US has gotten this close to ending a 70yr old war solely due to the policies of the president, and are terrified that he might succeed.

The odds are still against a successful resolution only due to the failures of previous presidents and particularly Obama. My guess is that these talks will break-down due the difficulty Kim will have in giving up all he's gained by duping Clinton Bush and Obama. But that failure will result in increased sanctions and more economic pain which will only encourage Kim to come back for a second crack at it.

But the real point is that Trump has to convince NK that the deal he's offering is the best they'll get and making a show of walking away was the best way of showing that.