"Without commitment": Trump and Kim Jong-un met at the border of North and South Korea

On Sunday, June 30, the third meeting of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was held in Panmunjom, located in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. However, instead of the planned symbolic handshake, the heads of state held an hour-long meeting, and Trump became the first current US president to visit North Korea.

The helicopter of the US Marine Corps, which is carrying Trump, flew in the direction of the demilitarized zone at 14:04 local time (08:04 Moscow time). Together with South Korean President Mun Zhe Ying, he visited an observation post on the border, from where he examined the positions of the DPRK.

After that, the head of the White House went to meet with Kim Jong-un. They shook hands, being on opposite sides of the demarcation line. Then the North Korean leader invited Trump to cross the border, which made him the first acting president of the United States, who visited the DPRK (previously Bill Clinton came to North Korea as an intermediary in negotiations). Then the leaders of the two countries returned to the south side of the demilitarized zone.

According to Trump, the symbolic crossing of the border was “a great honor” for him, and Kim Jong-un expressed the opinion that this step of the American leader “demonstrates his desire to work on a better future.”

Upon completion of the formal part for the press. The leaders of the two countries retired for negotiations at the Panmunjom Point. The meeting was also attended by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin, as well as daughter and adviser to US President Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.

The meeting was covered online by American, South Korean, North Korean and Japanese television. At the same time, the White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, received bruises during a flea market with journalists from the DPRK. As CNN journalist Jim Acosta told in his Twitter microblog, "Gresham got into a fight with the North Koreans who tried to push the members of the White House press pool, trying to take a better position to cover the meeting."

"Historical meeting"

At the beginning of the negotiations, Donald Trump expressed his gratitude to Kim Jong-un for coming to the meeting, because otherwise the head of the White House would be in an awkward position.

“I want to thank him. If after I posted the invitation in social networks, he didn’t appear, the press would put me in a very bad light, ”the US president said.

He also called this meeting "historic", expressing the opinion that it would become "a great day for the whole world." According to him, during the negotiations “great progress is being achieved, a great friendship is being established” between the two countries. However, the American side is not ready to lift the sanctions.

In response to a question from journalists, the head of the White House said that he could “right now” invite the head of the DPRK to visit the United States. But with the course of the negotiations themselves there is no need to hurry, because the main goal is a “good deal”.

“We will create special teams that will try to work out the details. Speed ​​is not our goal, we want to see if we can achieve a comprehensive, good deal, ”Trump said after the talks.

After the meeting, the President of the United States noted that he had invited the head of the DPRK to visit the States, but this should happen “in due time”, since now the parties have to do the necessary work.

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Commenting on the talks, the North Korean leader himself expressed hope for future changes.

"Already in itself, a peaceful handshake between our two countries, which had long-standing hostile relations, in such a place, a symbol of schism, reminiscent of the bad relations between the South and the North, suggests that today is not the same as it was yesterday," Kim quotes Chen Una RIA News.

According to the DPRK leader, the fact of the meeting "shows many people that we (the DPRK and the USA. - RT ) can continue to change a lot for the better."

"A spectacular move"

However, observers are more restrained in assessing the future cooperation between the DPRK and the United States. So, the chairman of the Federation Council’s information policy commission, Alexei Pushkov, believes that there’s really nothing behind Trump’s words, and a meeting with the DPRK leader is only part of public relations.

“Before the trip to Osaka, Trump announced that he would meet with many, but not with Kim. Now he shakes his hand in Panmunjom. That's Trump: content is nothing, PR is everything. He faithfully observes the laws of "non-stop show." If the problem is not solved, then at least make an effective move, ”noted Pushkov.

In turn, Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee, noted that without the participation of third parties, the negotiations between the United States and North Korea would not be crowned with success.

“By and large, the problem really lies more on a bilateral basis: there will definitely be no denuclearization without guarantees from Washington. Therefore, as they say, the flag in hand: if we can advance in this, then we will only be happy. Although something tells me that without the participation of third parties, Russia and China, there will be no long-term solutions to the problem, ”said the senator.

Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, noted that despite the purely symbolic nature of the meeting, it still carries a "positive signal for regional security and world stability as a whole." However, he expressed doubts that real action would follow this signal.

“Now, without any real progress in the positions of the parties, Trump managed to recreate positive expectations. Visible political result achieved. But will progress be sustainable? Can the US really solve problems bilaterally? As previous experience shows, definitely not, ”said the parliamentarian.

“Not an important meeting, but a photo session”

Experts did not see a serious attitude of the parties to work either. The general director of the Center for Political Information, Aleksey Mukhin, in a conversation with RT noted that both leaders pursued their own interests, but there was no real intention among them to agree on anything.

“We need to clearly understand that this was not an important international meeting, but a photo session. For Trump, it was important to be the first president of the United States, who set foot on the land of the DPRK, and so that all the media would immediately hear about it. For Kim Jong-un, it was important to demonstrate that he meets with the American president like that easily, spontaneously and without any obligations for himself, ”Mukhin explained.

Thus, the "tick was set," but no real agreement was reached. Everything was limited to big words, the expert notes.

“Both sides were well aware that this meeting was completely meaningless from a political and diplomatic point of view, but in terms of image it was worked out at 100%. So this is just an image meeting, which is not burdened with any obligations to each other, ”concluded the general director of the Center for Political Information.

Nevertheless, it’s also not worthwhile to exclude the fact that in the future they will be able to reach some kind of agreement, says Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor at Moscow State University Andrei Manoilo.

“We can say that they are preparing for the next round of talks, which was announced when both leaders left Hanoi. There is a hope that they can agree on something. They still both strive for this, ”said the expert in an interview with RT.

According to him, Trump is able to make concessions, and Kim Jong-un to consistent, sensible actions in the style of European politicians.