North Korea didn't take long to revert to familiar rhetoric.
Mike Pompeo headed over to North Korea to "fill-in some details" about denuclearization. So far as public statements go, there were two takes:
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018 ... talks.htmlThe United States and North Korea gave starkly contrasting reports Saturday after two days of talks intended to firm up Pyongyang’s promise to dismantle its nuclear weapons systems.
While Secretary of State Michael Pompeo claimed limited “progress” in “productive” meetings, North Korea expressed “regret” over the talks and accused the Trump administration of making unfair “unilateral” demands.
Within hours of Pompeo’s departure early Saturday from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, its foreign ministry issued a statement saying U.S. demands might lead to “a dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearization that had been firm.”
Aw, c'mon, guys. Can't we all just get along?
https://globalnews.ca/news/4318921/nort ... n-demands/North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un had been hopeful that the “good faith” established between himself and U.S. President Donald Trump would hold talks in good stead, but the U.S. had instead insisted on a “unilateral and gangster-like demand” for denuclearization, according to a translated version of the statement published by KCNA Watch, a website that compiles North Korean state media reports.
Slow but steady to win the race, or whatever - you guys are asking way too much, because (as I've said before) diplomacy is about saying, "nice doggy" until you find a bigger rock.
A nice doggy:
However, the statement also appeared to separate North Korea’s annoyance with the U.S. from its relationship with Trump himself.
“We still cherish our good faith in President Trump. The U.S. should make a serious consideration of whether the toleration of the headwind against the wills of the two top leaders would meet the aspirations and expectations of the world people as well as the interests of its country,” the statement concluded.
A bigger rock:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswith ... b8b6084ef9During the 21st century, North Korea has performed five separate nuclear tests, all verified by the incontrovertible science of seismology. The most recent, in 2017, yielded enough energy to kill more than 2 million people if it were detonated in a populous area like Seoul, South Korea. Despite multiple promises to denuclearize over the years, the nuclear threat looms larger than ever. Worst of all, there's now a clear path for North Korea to develop a hydrogen bomb.
NB: That article is quite interesting
The second take on how it all went came from Pompeo:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/08/politics ... index.htmlUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed North Korea's accusation of a "gangster-like mindset" in denuclearization talks, saying the two nations had productive conversations that will continue in the days ahead.
Pompeo brushed aside the comments Sunday, saying "if those requests were gangster-like, the world is a gangster," and noting that the UN Security Council has been clear on what North Korea needs to achieve.
In other words, it's all good, nothing to see here, things are moving along.
On Sunday night in Vietnam, at a dinner with Vietnamese and American business leaders, Pompeo said Vietnam experienced an "incredible rise" over the past few decades in part due to new engagement with the United States. He then delivered a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un: "President Trump believes your country can replicate this path -- it's yours if you'll seize the moment. The miracle can be yours."
[...]
"People are going to make stray comments after meetings," he said of North Korea's assertion. "If I paid attention to what the press said, I'd go nuts. I am determined to achieve the commitment that President Trump made, and I'm counting on chairman Kim to be determined to follow through on the commitment that he made."
Vietnam is a miracle? Cool, Mike. But, just to be clear, the press
reported what North Korea said. That is very different from "what the press said", however confusing that nuance may be in a post-fact world.
Mike, your determination to cash the cheque which Trump's loud mouth wrote is notable, and the ultimate goal is laudable, but we now know that by "filling-in" you were tasked with telling North Korea to remove everything nuclear-ish, like yesterday, and North Korea told you to go fuck yourself. Kim, on the other hand, made no commitment, and has acted as-such.
In the immortal words of a past POTUS, this isn't rocket surgeory. The current North Korean regime has long lived with sanctions. Totalitarian regimes are good at that, so long as they have a lifeline to international markets. Things got real for North Korea when China tightened the noose (because Trump abandoning TPP was good times for China). Since then, Trump has been doing everything he can, based on advise from crackpot charlatans like Navarro and Kudlow, to piss-off China.
That's not "nice doggy", it's diplomacy which goes straight to, "I'm a gonna throw these-here rocks, because I don't like you, doggy," with no consideration for little things like economics and security. Pompeo showed-up in North Korea to make demands whilst Trump is escalating a trade war with China (or, really, everywhere not-USA).
If post WW-II has taught us anything, it's that countries which trade together don't sacrifice the lives of millions of their citizens fighting each other.
Trump is now surrounded by quacks on every policy side, and they are running him down the rails of his own nutiness. I guess he's in his comfort zone.
On North Korea, it's time to pull the gloves off, Trump - send Kushner in. He'll sort this whole thing out. Condos on the beach in no time, but not before 666 Fifth Avenue debt is sorted-out (fingers crossed, Jared!).
A quantum state of signature may or may not be here... you just ruined it.