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Coming weeks ahead of the scheduled summit alone surprised. Time and again it’s clear. Washington virtually never negotiates in good faith – or pre-negotiates, as the pullout shows. Rare exceptions prove the rule.
If Kim Jong-un/Trump talks are held at a later date and/or different location than Singapore, the DPRK can expect nothing positive short-or-longterm.
Its government was betrayed before. Surely it would happen again, especially with hostile hardline neocon extremists infesting Washington – wanting all sovereign independent governments transformed into US vassal states.
On Wednesday, before pulling out of the summit, Trump said cancellation “could very well happen. Whatever it is, we’ll know next week about Singapore.” He didn’t wait. We know now.
According to North Korean First Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan before Trump’s pullout, summit talks may not happen if Washington demands unilateral denuclearization, adding:
“If the US president’s administration is interested in improving North Korean-US relations, we will respond positively to a summit proposal” – otherwise not.
“The United States is talking about providing us with economic benefits if we give up nuclear weapons. We never expected the US to build the (our) economy and will never accept such a deal in the future.”
Pyongyang is justifiably infuriated over Mike Pence’s hostile Monday comments, saying
“(y)ou know, as the president made clear, this will only end like the Libyan model ended if Kim Jong-un doesn’t make a deal.”
DPRK Foreign Affairs Vice Minister Choe Son-hui responded, saying
“what a political dummy he is, trying to compare the DPRK, a nuclear weapon state, to Libya that had simply installed a few items of equipment and fiddled around with them,” adding:
“I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the US vice-president.”
“We will neither beg the US for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us.”
“Whether the US will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behavior of the United States.”
Choe said she’d recommend that Kim cancel the summit if the Trump administration “clings to unlawful and outrageous acts.” It’s how Washington always operates.
On Wednesday, Mike Pompeo said talks are still on as scheduled. White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin and deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel headed to Singapore for meetings with their DPRK counterparts to discuss summit details.
If held instead of cancelled, North Korea surely knows it’s dealing with a duplicitous regime – hostile to the DPRK since the late 1940s.
Its promises are made to be broken, a lesson learned by all countries dealing with America sooner of later.
Washington doesn’t negotiate. It demands, offering nothing in return but empty pledges – proved repeatedly time and again.
In Wednesday testimony before House Foreign Affairs Committee members, Mike Pompeo vowed US pressure on North Korea “will not change until we see credible steps taken toward the complete, verifiable, and irreversible de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” adding:
“We are clear-eyed about (DPRK) history. It’s time to solve this once and for all. A bad deal is not an option…If the right deal is not on the table (meaning DPRK capitulation to US demands), we will respectfully walk away” – adding Kim was offered “zero concessions.”
His remarks and America’s long history of bad faith virtually assures nothing positive for North Korea short or longer-term if talks are rescheduled for later – whatever positive spin is reported if they take place.
Hegemons can never be trusted. Washington proved this cardinal rule time and again.
This time is not different. Believing it’s possible is dangerously foolhardy.
North Korea is well aware of the kind of regime it’s dealing with – one that can never be trusted.
Agreeing to a summit and then pulling out is its latest bad faith example – no doubt because the DPRK won’t unilaterally surrender to outrageous US demands.
A Final Comment
By letter to Kim Jong-un, cancelling the June summit, Trump blamed him, not his regime for the pullout saying:
“(B)ased on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.”
He said nothing about his own earlier threatening comments, nor recent ones by John Bolton on Fox News and Mike Pompeo in House committee testimony Wednesday – bearing full responsibility for North Korea’s justifiable remarks.
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Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the CRG, Correspondent of Global Research based in Chicago.
VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home – Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
