Summit in Singapore - Kim's Success

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a much more exemplary summit in Singapore than the Seven in Quebec. The latter culminated in a grandiose scandal, the Singaporean gave rise to great hopes for the whole world. Whether it will be possible to implement them - completely, partially or not at all - is not a matter of today, and it will depend on many factors.

Thanking each other for the meeting, Trump and Kim signed the final document, which is called "comprehensive." It was evident that the leaders of both countries are pleased with each other and that they consider the first ever US-North Korean summit a success. Kim announced the beginning of a "new start" and big changes.

The leader of North Korea at the signing ceremony of the final document at the Capella Hotel promised: "The world will see great changes." The US president said that he "established a special relationship" with the North Korean leader and signed with him "a very important document." He expressed confidence that relations between the two countries will be "stunning".

What Trump and Kim signed

Trump waved to the journalists in front of the signed document, and so he managed to photograph it. In it, in particular, it is noted that the owner of the White House "undertakes to provide security assurances to the DPRK," Chairman Kim Jong-un confirmed his firm and unshakable commitment to the completion of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. " The document contains, inter alia, the obligations of the parties to make efforts to create a "lasting and stable peace on the Korean peninsula" and "all over the world", to establish bilateral relations in a new format "in accordance with the desire for peace and prosperity of the peoples of the two countries" prisoners of war - participants of the Korean War of 1950-1953. The final communique also states that in the very near future the foreign ministers of both countries will continue the talks "in order to ensure the implementation of the outcome of the US-DPRK summit."

The parties recognized, stated in the document, that "the first ever US-DPRK summit was an epoch-making event," testifying to "overcoming tensions and hostility that took place between countries for decades." And their leaders "undertake to implement the provisions of the joint statement in full and without delay."

Success was needed by both, but especially by Kim

In the success of this particular meeting, one could not doubt: according to the spirit, habits, style of behavior and even Kim's views, Trump is much closer than, for example, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom the White House owner publicly called "a dishonest weakling." About Kim after signing the joint document, Trump expressed himself in a completely different way, calling the North Korean leader "a very talented" man, "a very worthy, very smart negotiator," who possesses not only a mind, but also an "excellent character" that represents "an excellent combination." Trump finished this eulogy, saying that Kim "loves his country very much", that they got along very well, "having learned a lot about each other and about our countries," and that in general it was a "wonderful day".

Undoubtedly, they really respect each other. Trump's words that "we are both very pleased to have the honor to sign this document" clearly demonstrate that the extremes do indeed converge.

Trump expressed his confidence that "the relationship between the United States and the DPRK will be completely different from what has been so far." The US president indicated, without giving specific dates, that the process of denuclearization of the DPRK would begin "very, very fast", and invited Kim to visit Washington, and he in turn invited Trumpu to come to Pyongyang. While in Singapore, Trump promised that if everything goes according to plan, he will not only accept Kim in the White House, but also invite him to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

The signing of the document was preceded by a talk about one hour one by one through the interpreters of the leaders of the two countries, after which the advisers and high-ranking participants of both delegations joined Trump and Kim. On the US side, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Advisor John Bolton, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. On the DPRK side, Kim Yong Chol, deputy head of the Korean Workers' Party (TPK), Lee Yong-ho, Foreign Minister of the DPRK, and Li Su Yong, Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee of the TPK. At the end of the summit, in an expanded format, Trump and Kim came out with smiles on their faces, once again shook hands. They looked, as before the negotiations, contented and relaxed.

How the US and North Korea prepared to this meeting

Thus, it is possible to sum up the first North Korean-American diplomatic marathon. On 10 May, Trump announced that he would meet with Kim on June 12 in Singapore. On May 12, North Korea dismantled its nuclear test site, which in any case could no longer be used. On May 16, Pyongyang said that it could cancel the summit because of Bolton's threats, that North Korea will face the fate of Libya if it does not capitulate to Washington. On May 18, Trump disavowed Bolton's statement, saying that Washington does not insist that the DPRK abandon its nuclear weapons in advance. On May 22, Trump himself now threatened that there would be no summit, if the DPRK did not fulfill certain conditions of the United States, and canceled the summit on May 24. This trick seems to be aimed at creating the impression that Pyongyang agreed to some preconditions, so on June 1, after a series of talks between high-ranking representatives of the two countries, Trump announced that the meeting would still be, as planned, on June 12.

Who won more?

The fact that the meeting in Singapore took place is primarily due to Pyongyang, not to Washington, and its results are more beneficial to the North Koreans than to the Americans. Thanks to the successful acquisition of nuclear weapons, North Korea managed to force the US to talk to itself on an equal footing. This is in the first place. And secondly, to force the summit without preconditions, which they tried to put forward in Washington - like partial nuclear disarmament on the eve of the Singapore meeting. Thirdly, not everyone in the US will praise Trump for this summit, he will also cost dearly in the homeland words of admiration for Kim, especially those that are intolerable for all kinds of "human rights activists".

As for the DPRK, its ostentatious peace and, apparently, a sincere desire to change its country, turning it from a reserve of exaggerated Stalinism into a dynamically developing economy, interested in peace and friendship with its neighbors and open to the whole world, it destroyed the moral basis for the stifling of its harsh economic sanctions. Even if nothing happens later from the rapprochement with the US, which is quite possible, Washington will no longer have a convincing excuse and pretexts to demand from other countries and the UN to impose new sanctions against Pyongyang and support the already imposed ones. Therefore, Kim outplayed Trump in any case. Even if he manages to perform only a minimum program.

Before Kim's eyes, the example of China, which successfully turned the party apparatus into an effective bureaucratic corps, retain ideology as ideology, betting on state capitalism, which in a few decades has transformed China from a poor country into a leading economy of the world. The same thing, only, naturally, on a smaller scale, North Korea can also do, since the Koreans are no less industrious and persistent than the Chinese. An example of South Korea, one of the most developed and wealthy countries in the world today, testifies to this. For a Kim who has studied in Switzerland, this can be a natural choice, which, of course, the people of North Korea will support. As for its communist nomenclature, Kim has already shown that he is able to show rigidity and punish dissenters. The main task now is to remove external restrictions for North Korean growth, attract investment, reconcile with South Korea. This, it seems, is going to do Kim as a maximum program.

Yoshihide Suga, the Secretary-General of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan, said: "We hope that North Korea, as a result of the meeting, will change its policy as a responsible member of the international community."

At the same time, Tokyo does not expect that denuclearization is already a matter of the near future. As the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Taro Kono, stated this week, "it may take several decades to completely eliminate nuclear facilities."

Mun Jung-ying, Special Adviser to the President of South Korea on Unification, International Relations and National Security, believes that the issue of North Korean nuclear weapons, radioactive materials and intercontinental ballistic missiles "can be solved in two and a half years", but "together with the liquidation of the relevant facilities, all the process can be completed in 10 years ".

Conclusions

In other words, North Korea will have enough time to see whether the United States is serious about it or not, whether the Americans are fulfilling their economic promises. And if the conclusion is negative, Pyongyang will brake its nuclear disarmament.

Therefore, as the chairman of the State Duma Committee for International Affairs Leonid Slutsky has justly noted, it is premature to talk about immediate detente on the Korean peninsula following the summit in Singapore, but "today it is definitely the morning of hope, hope, first of all, to make progress on the issues of a peaceful resolution of the situation around North Korea. " All this means that Kim achieved the desired effect, and Trump played on his notes very well, just fine.