During the opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the North and South Korean teams marched together under the Korean Unification Flag.
A show of unity like this hadn’t been seen since before the Korean War in 1950.
But the real win happened just two days after the closing ceremonies.
Kim Jong Un Extends an Olive Branch
On February 27, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) dictator Kim Jong Un stated his desire to open dialogue with President Donald Trump with a goal of easing the tensions between the two nations.
This was undoubtedly due to the increased tensions in the region from the North Korean missile tests that had occurred in 2016 and 2017.
Trump stated, “And we want to talk also, only under the right conditions. Otherwise, we’re not talking.”
And what were those conditions?
Mainly, the U.S. wanted North Korea to put a stop to its nuclear weapons development programs.
There were also concerns of human rights issues, including physical and digital isolation, and its brutal indoctrination practices, attempting to assure that every person was a loyal citizen, or else . . .
Rocket Man
Kim Jong Un claims that his nation developed nuclear weapons as protection against an invasion by the United States, stating that the “U.S. has long posed nuclear threats to the DPRK” and that “the U.S. was seized by a foolish ambition to bring down the DPRK.”
The DPRK missile test of 2016 and 2017 raised concerns in South Korea and Japan about the military tensions in the area.
Trump, in a September 2017 address to the UN, stated that “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.”
The persistence of the DPRK to flaunt their new weapons by launching long-range missiles that splashed down in the Pacific near Guam and off the coast of Japan to show off their potential led Trump to further state that, “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
He added that he hoped that “would not be necessary.”
North Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister, Choe Son-hui, called Trump a “dotard” in response, meaning that the DPRK considered Trump old, feeble, and physically weak.
Despite the back-and-forth name calling, Trump went on to say he had “a good relationship” with the North Korean leader.
An Unprecedented Meeting
Trump would be the first U.S. President in history to sit down and meet with a North Korean leader.
Trump had one critical criterion for the meeting to happen. North Korea, denuclearization must be on the table.
There were other issues to discuss but denuclearization was the big one.
Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2018
Another critical requirement for the U.S. to sit down was the continued cessation of missile testing by North Korea.
Trump stated that “Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress is being made, but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached.”
The sanctions previously put in place would remain in place.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in stated, “The denuclearization and peace of the Korean Peninsula is becoming a reality.”
Planning for the event began in early March.
Diplomats from the U.S., South Korea, and the DPRK began drafting an agenda and selecting a location for the summit.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said that even though Trump had agreed to the meeting, “all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain” in place, and that the White House needed to see that “concrete and viable steps” were being made towards denuclearization.
Push Back from the North
One of the key negotiators for the U.S. in the summit planning was Vice President Mike Pence.
He issued a statement saying that the summit was likely to “end like the Libyan model ended” if Kim doesn’t agree to a deal to “dismantle his nuclear weapons program.”
This statement enraged the North Koreans because the Libyan model he was referring to ended with the death of their leader Muammar Gaddafi in a bombing raid, and DPRK took it as a threat.
Choe Son-hui called the remark “ignorant and stupid,” followed by the threat of a “nuclear to nuclear showdown” with the U.S.
Cancelled
As a result of the growing tensions, Trump sent a letter to Kim on May 24, stating that the planned summit was cancelled.
North Korea quickly backed down, and their vice foreign minister stated that his country still had the “willingness to sit down face-to-face with the US and resolve issues anytime and in any format” and that they were “open-minded in giving time and opportunity” to the US for the “peace and stability for the world and the Korean Peninsula.”
Singapore Summit
The summit finally took place in Singapore on June 12, 2018.
The meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un began with a 12-second handshake and lasted just over two hours.
The cordial discussions were relayed back and forth through interpreters.
At its conclusion, Trump stated that it was a “very, very good” meeting.
Further discussions between the respective Countries’ diplomats led to Trump and Kim signing a joint statement committing their nations to providing security guarantees to North Korea, the steps to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a lessening of the U.S./South Korea war games near the DMZ, the recovery of soldier remains from both sides of the border, and the steps to get North Korea removed from the “state sponsors of terrorism” list.
The Singapore Summit was significant because it showed that both sides were willing to negotiate for peace on the Korean Peninsula.
It all sounded good, but little action was taken by North Korea after the summit to bring the denuclearization to fruition.
There would be a second summit held in 2019 in Hanoi that unfortunately ended with a status quo, and that is where the world is today after four years of Biden doing nothing to address the issue.
Trump has said he plans to reach out to Kim Jong Un anew in his second term, but with the Russian/Ukraine conflict raging, that resumption will likely take a backseat to his talks with Putin.
Are you enjoying 24/7’s deep dives into recent and not-so-recent history? Would you like to see more stories like this one? If so, send a note to [email protected] and let our Editorial Team hear from you today!
For now, keep an eye on your inboxes Thursdays and Saturdays for new editions of “Today in History” from the 24/7 team!
Also, be sure to sign up for 24/7’s Exclusive “Choose the News” Focus Group for your chance to choose and submit commentary in our Featured Story each week!
Related posts:
Democrats made one bad decision that will doom them to defeat
Bill Gates doesn’t want you to know this dark secret about USAID
Josh Hawley committed one terrible betrayal that left conservatives seeing red
