Has the US-North Korea summit been a victory for peace?
Kim Jong Un promises ‘world will see a major change’ following unprecedented talks with Donald Trump
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has committed to rid his country of nuclear weapons, during a historic meeting with US President Donald Trump.
The two men shook hands, ate lunch together and signed a joint document, stating - among other points - that North Korea “commits to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”.
Trump described today’s talks in Singapore as “honest, direct and productive”, and told a gathering of international reporters that he would end America’s “war games” with Pyongyang. Meanwhile, Kim promised that “the world will see a major change”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The meeting was a “victory for peace”, writes Freddy Gray in the US edition of the Spectator.
“Trump has just given the North Korean people more hope than any other previous American president,” he continues, drawing comparisons with Ronald Reagan’s meeting with the Soviet Union’s Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986, which led to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
“Trump has changed the realpolitik of the Korean Peninsula”, and that’s “no small feat”, Gray adds.
But others have been cautious about lauding Trump’s supposed success.
“It is unclear if further negotiations will lead to the end goal of denuclearisation,” Anthony Ruggiero, senior fellow of Washington DC-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Reuters. “This looks like a restatement of where we left negotiations more than ten years ago and not a major step forward.”
USA Today’s Susan Page argues that the leaders’ handshake was more historic than their words. The four-point agreement “fell short of previous international accords reached with Pyongyang and left big questions unanswered”, she says.
Trump indicated that tough sanctions on North Korea would be removed once the denuclearisation process was well under way, and said the US would stop staging joint military exercises with South Korea. But as Page points out, there are no deadlines, no timetables and no commitment to “complete, verifiable and irreversible” nuclear disarmament.
The language in today’s agreement was similarly vague to that in Kim’s April agreement with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, she says, adding: “And it left unmentioned North Korea’s notorious human-rights abuses.”
According to The Washington Post, the agreement essentially “fell short of the kind of deal the US president himself has long said is needed”, leaving Trump “open to criticism that he has given Kim what he has long wanted - recognition, respect and legitimacy on the world stage as an equal - without getting anything substantive on nukes in return”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why Man United finally lost patience with ten Hag
Talking Point After another loss United sacked ten Hag in hopes of success in the Champion's League
By The Week UK Published
-
Who are the markets backing in the US election?
Talking Point Speculators are piling in on the Trump trade. A Harris victory would come as a surprise
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: November 3, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Putin's fixation with shamans
Under the Radar Secretive Russian leader, said to be fascinated with occult and pagan rituals, allegedly asked for blessing over nuclear weapons
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 February - 1 March
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will mounting discontent affect Iran election?
Today's Big Question Low turnout is expected in poll seen as crucial test for Tehran's leadership
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Sweden clears final NATO hurdle with Hungary vote
Speed Read Hungary's parliament overwhelmingly approved Sweden's accession to NATO
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published