Kim Jong-un

PYONGYANG, DPRK (Analysis) — If there is any country on the list of U.S. adversaries about which almost everyone lacks critical understanding, it is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea). Unlike most countries, the DPRK has managed to stay fairly closed to U.S. interference and intelligence-gathering — whether by embassies and consulates, or other channels of soft-power such as NGOs (although some have gotten through).

North Korea is not willing to play a game with America where America alone gets ‘the better end of the deal’, as Trump would put it.
Some sort of arrangement whereby North Korea has no assurance that America won’t eventually march in and overthrow the regime and give Kim the Gadhafi treatment over some trumped up pretext, as in Libya, while North Korea has agreed to give up its nuclear program is simply not what this process has been about.

Singapore has been chosen to host the unlikely summit between U.S. president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in early June.

North Korea has announced that they will begin an unprecedented, public dismantling of their nuclear test sites, in advance with leader Kim Jong Un’s meeting with President Trump. This was reported by North Korean state media.

WASHINGTON — As the U.S. summit with North Korea fast approaches, both countries are jostling to preserve their respective interests. The tense signals, subtle shifts in position, and U.S. provocations make clear that the summit won’t be short on tough negotiations.
Despite the honeyed words of previous months following U.S. President Donald Trump’s agreement to meet directly with Kim Jong-un, Washington is adopting a more hard-line stance demanding “permanent” denuclearization and a range of agenda items that likely haven’t previously been discussed with Pyongyang.

Even as US President Trump’s forthcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un continues to be the subject of negotiation and speculation, the North Korean leader has just wrapped up his second unannounced meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Western commentary continues to see Kim Jong-un’s forthcoming summit meeting with Donald Trump as they key goal of North Korea’s diplomacy, and the most important summit of Kim Jong-un’s career.  Kim Jong-un’s meetings with Xi Jinping and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are interpreted as steps to that goal.

At their meeting at the close of April, the South Korean President Moon Jae-in gifted the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, a picture of just what an integrated Korea could achieve.
The proposed plan, ‘A new economic map of the Korean peninsula’, aims to develop three economic belts linking trade between Korea not just with China and Russia, but even to Europe.
The audacious program was promised to the citizens of South Korea during Moon’s presidential campaign as a part of his presidential program, and it now looks like it has a chance at becoming reality.

A year ago the situation in the Korean Peninsula appeared to be sliding rapidly towards war, with North Korea pressing ahead with its ballistic missile and nuclear tests, with Donald Trump, the US’s newly elected and highly inexperienced President tweeting threats of military action, with General H.R. McMaster, Donald Trump’s hawkish National Security Adviser lobbying for military action, and US fleets moving backwards and forwards towards the Korean Peninsula alongside wild talk that they might be about to be used in action.
A year later the mood is transformed.

Peace in the Koreas is what the world expects; and Peace in the world is what humanity expects, the vast majority. 99.9% of the world population wants peace, but it’s the 0.1% that commands war and destruction, since war and destruction is what runs the western economy. Literally. If peace would break out what we in the west still call economy — though it’s a fraud, every day more visible — would collapse. In the US the war industry with all the associated production and service industries, including the Silicon Valley and banking, contributes more than 50% to GDP.

President Trump held a campaign-style rally in Washington, Michigan, on Saturday where the US President said that his meeting with North Korea could happen in as little as 3 to 4 weeks.
“Let’s see how it goes, I think we’re gonna do just fine,” Mr. Trump said.