US President Donald Trump said that he had a “great” meeting with Kim Young Chol, adviser to the head of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un. According to the American leader, the parties achieved "progress" and scheduled a new meeting of the two heads of state at the end of February.

“The meeting went great. We agreed to meet again, probably at the end of February. We have already chosen the country where the negotiations will take place, but this will be announced later. Kim Jong-un, like me, is looking forward to this meeting. We have made great progress on denuclearization and discussed many other topics. Things are going very well with North Korea, ”Trump said during a press conference following the talks.

At the same time, he stressed that Washington would maintain the regime of economic sanctions against Pyongyang.

The US President did not name the country in which the new meeting of the two leaders will take place, however, the Western media name Vietnam as the most likely venue for the summit.

In addition to meeting with Trump, Kim Yong Chol also held talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Beagan, who, after talking with his North Korean counterpart, went to Sweden to participate in an international conference, Reuters reports.

Referring to their sources, the North Korean agency Renhap reported that senior officials from the United States and North Korea had begun working-level negotiations in Sweden to prepare a second meeting of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, and to discuss the issue of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Frozen process

The first meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un was held in Singapore in June 2018. Following its results, the DPRK has taken a number of steps to denuclearize, in particular, the Sohe testing range and the Phunheri testing range were dismantled. But then the process was suspended, since, in Pyongyang’s words, in response, Washington did not provide the North Korean side with the promised security guarantees.

By the end of the year, US sanctions only intensified, the American media increasingly began to raise the issue of human rights in the DPRK. As a result, Pyongyang said that the pressure through unilateral sanctions would not force it to abandon its nuclear potential.

  • Launch of the Hwason-12 intercontinental ballistic missile
  • Reuters
  • © KCNA

Sanction regime

On January 10, during a meeting with PRC Chairman Xi Jinping Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang would not back down from the previously announced course of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

"The DPRK will continue to adhere to the policy of denuclearization, will solve the problem of the peninsula through dialogue, will make efforts to achieve results that will be welcomed by the international community during the second summit of the leaders of the DPRK and the US," said Kim Jong Un.

At the end of the year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also spoke about the need for dialogue and a revision of the issue of sanctions against the DPRK.

“It’s not about abolishing international restriction restrictions at the same time. This will be possible simultaneously with the achievement of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But one cannot delay the launch of a review of the existing sanctions regime, ”the head of Russian diplomacy noted.

Domination tool

During the first meeting of the heads of the United States and the DPRK, special progress was not achieved, political scientist Alexander Asafov recalled in a conversation with RT.

“Trump said then that he managed to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but the“ irreversible ”position would disappear from the final communiqué, which would impose restrictions on Pyongyang on the need to implement it. After analyzing this document, it became clear that Trump needed a reputational victory, and he achieved it by moving from threats and openly unfriendly actions to face-to-face meetings. It is unlikely that something will change even now, ”the expert believes.

  • Intercontinental ballistic missiles at the parade in Pyongyang
  • Reuters
  • © KCNA

The resolution of the issue with the DPRK is not currently the main vector for Trump, Asafov added.

“Now he is striving to fulfill his election promises of 2016. He moves along this vector, and this is more important for him than the search for concrete solutions to the Korean problem. For him, this problem was solved with the help of his authority. Trump sincerely believes that the DPRK embarked on a course of unification with South Korea thanks to him, and not to the efforts of diplomats in these countries. Therefore, closer to the February meeting, the rhetoric will be updated, Trump will again begin to make demands, make promises, but this will not affect the sanctions against Pyongyang, ”the expert explained.

For Washington, sanctions are an instrument of economic domination and the creation of conditions for unfair competition, Asafov stressed.

“Sanctions against North Korea, as understood by the Trump administration and its foreign policy apparatus, are a blow to China. Its main goal is the PRC, and all its statements and actions confirm this. Even the exit from the INF Treaty with Russia contains this element. The White House needs to conclude a new, tripartite agreement, which will limit including China, ”the expert believes.

According to him, Trump's entire rhetoric, statements about “excellent results” and “high achievements” in the negotiation process with the DPRK are only a way to get reputation points. Therefore, it is unlikely that something will change after the next meeting of the American president with his North Korean counterpart, Asafov said, and all the actions of Trump now "need to be viewed in the context of the big election show of 2020."

Need a specific plan

Trump declares any of his actions the greatest achievement, despite the obvious contradictions for all, says political analyst Mikhail Sinelnikov-Orishak.

“He believes that he is doing everything well, and will not accept any criticism. But in the situation with the DPRK, none of the parties wants to concede. Washington offers Pyongyang: "First you disarm, and then we will see what can be done with the sanctions." But it is quite obvious that Kim Jong-un is not satisfied with this state of affairs, therefore such statements were made: if the Americans do not reconsider their attitude to these obligations, everything will fall back to their original positions, ”explained the expert in an interview with RT.

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According to him, in the situation with the Korean Peninsula, Trump pursues the traditional policy of Washington, when the United States is trying to profit by ignoring the interests of the other side.

“But North Korea and Kim Jong-un have an example of his father before his eyes, when in the 1990s Pyongyang and Washington also agreed on denuclearization and the Americans assumed certain obligations. In particular, they were going to build two light water reactors in North Korea. There even came Hillary Clinton, and in honor of her launched an inflatable rocket, which was to symbolize the last launch on North Korean soil. The presidential visit of Bill Clinton was being prepared, and the overall situation was much more favorable and encouraging more optimism than it is now, ”Sinelnikov-Orishak reminded.

However, Clinton left, and Bush became the president, who immediately declared that the DPRK was a rogue state, and all the agreements were complete nonsense. Trust in Washington then fell to zero, and a series of crises began in the relations between the two countries, the expert emphasizes.

“The same situation can be observed with Iran,” the expert believes. - One administration agrees, and the next disavows all these agreements. It is quite problematic to negotiate with the Americans, because it is not known what policy the next president will conduct. On the issue of a nuclear program, this may threaten a serious technological lag, and the DPRK has invested too much in this program, which makes it possible to speak with the United States on an equal footing, ”the expert noted, adding that for this reason, the DPRK leader will never go for unilateral disarmament.

“The only progress here is the fact that the two leaders meet. No more achievements from these meetings should be expected. If Trump continues on this course, everything will return to the original positions. Trump needs to show the world a concrete plan to fulfill the agreements. What North Korea should do is clear to everyone, and it is unclear to anyone what the United States will do, ”the political analyst concluded.