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DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING: President Trump has agreed to do what no other American president has ever done: Meet with a sitting leader of North Korea. While skepticism runs high about the ultimate outcome of what will likely be protracted negotiations, the unexpectedly conciliatory tone of the invitation holds the tantalizing prospect of a peaceful resolution of the long-simmering crisis, with the removal of nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula, the reintegration of North Korea into the international community, and even the end of the state of war between the two Koreas after 64 years. Chung Eui-Yong, South Korea’s national security adviser, made the dramatic announcement just after 7 last night in the White House West Wing driveway. It met all the conditions the U.S. wanted for direct talks. “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is committed to denuclearization. Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue. And he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible.” Trump accepted on the spot. Chung said the meeting would take place “by May,” but later the White House said it would happen “at a place and time to be determined.” In a tweet shortly after the announcement, the president trumpeted the fact that the offer included a pledge to de-nuke, and required no concessions from the U.S. “Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!” Sarah Sanders, White House press secretary, said in a statement last night, “We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea. In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain.” Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s liberal president who brokered the meeting with his “Peace Olympics” and the dispatch of a high-level delegation to Pyongyang, said today that it will be a “historical milestone” that will put the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula “really on track.” Moon made sure to credit Trump’s leadership, saying it will be praised “not only by the residents of South and North Korea but every peace-loving person around the world.” Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, who some experts think might be feeling a little sidelined by the fast-moving process, told reporters after a phone call with Trump that Japan and the United States would continue to be “together 100 percent” and that he’d meet Trump in Washington in April, according to the AP. Geng Shuang said China welcomes the meeting, calling it a “positive” message and a step in the right direction. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “We welcome the positive message that North Korea and the U.S. sent out on their direct dialogue,” according to the Yonhap News Agency. Rex Tillerson was out of the country and apparently out of the loop as the diplomatic machinations accelerated. The secretary of state was in Ethiopia, and said “we’re a long ways from negotiations,” at a press conference hours before the announcement. Tillerson was downplaying the breakthrough insisting the next step would be to “have some kind of talks about talks,” adding he wasn’t sure “conditions are right to even begin thinking about negotiations.” After the announcement Tillerson, still traveling in Africa, said the U.S. was taken by surprise at how “forward-leaning” Kim was being, and said it indicated “not just willingness but really his desire for talks.” He said it was Trump’s call to accept, and that it would take “some weeks” to work out the details. Speaking to reporters in Djibouti, Tillerson drew a distinction between “talks” with North Korea and “negotiations,” and said Trump has been open talks and a meeting with Kim for some time. “In the president’s judgment, that time has arrived now,” Tillerson said. Christopher Hill, the last American to negotiate with the North, said, “This is huge.” The former U.S. ambassador to Seoul told Britain’s Sky News, “I spent four years negotiating with the North Koreans as part of the six-party talks and I can tell you we never had a moment anything close to this.” Hill said it would be even more shocking if the breakthrough resulted in North Korea giving up its nukes. “This is something no one has succeeded in doing,” Hill said. “Certainly, the North Koreans have invited American heads of state before but this is the first time an American head of state has said ‘sure I’ll go’ — so this is really quite extraordinary.” Sen. Lindsey Graham voiced the fears of those with long memories who think Trump may be walking into a trap. “I am not naive. I understand that if the past is an indication of the future, North Korea will be all talk and no action,” Graham tweeted last night, adding a friendly “word of warning” to Kim. “The worst possible thing you can do is meet with President Trump in person and try to play him. If you do that, it will be the end of you — and your regime.” Dennis Rodman, the former basketball star who is one of a handful of Americans to have actually met Kim, congratulated Trump for making history. “Well done, President Trump. You’re on the way to a historical meeting no U.S. president has ever done,” Rodman said. “Please send my regards to Marshal Kim Jong Un and his family.” Rodman visited North Korea in 2013 and 2014. Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense. |
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SALES TO QATAR AND UAE: The State Department has approved the possible sale of 300 Raytheon Sidewinder missiles to the United Arab Emirates. Those, along with practice missiles and guidance units, could ring in at $270 million. It also greenlit the possible sale to Qatar of equipment and support, also from Raytheon, to upgrade the Qatari Emiri Air Force’s operations center for $197 million, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. SASC REPUBLICANS OPPOSE TARIFFS: More Republicans came out with national security concerns Thursday as Trump pushed ahead with his plan to place tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Sen. John McCain, the Senate Armed Services chairman, issued a lengthy criticism from his home in Arizona. “President Trump’s contention that steel and aluminum imports are threatening our national security and defense industrial base is simply not supported by the evidence. According to the Department of Defense, U.S. military requirements for steel and aluminum each represent only about three percent of U.S. production,” McCain said. “The Department of Defense assesses that its programs are able to acquire all the steel and aluminum necessary to meet national defense requirements. “In fact, by potentially triggering significant increases in the price of steel and aluminum, President Trump’s new tariffs could harm our national defense by raising the cost of production for critical military systems needed to sustain the United States’ comparative military advantage against our adversaries, from ships, to armored vehicles, to fighter aircraft,” McCain said. Sen. James Inhofe, the most senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee in McCain’s absence, told Travis this week that he had similar concerns about rising acquisition costs. Committee members Sens. Joni Ernst, Mike Rounds and Dan Sullivan were among a group of seven Republican senators who wrote a letter to Trump on Thursday warning that the tariffs could damage relationships abroad. “We remain concerned that imposing tariffs risks alienating key international partners that contribute to our ability to defend our nation and maintain international stability. In lieu of imposing broad, global aluminum and steel tariffs that could adversely impact our relationship with several key allies, we ask that the administration consider alternative approaches to address these issues,” they wrote. OUTGUNNED BY RUSSIA: Russia could overwhelm American and other NATO military forces on the ground if war broke out in Eastern Europe, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the head of U.S. European Command, confirmed to the Senate on Thursday. Inhofe said a Rand Corp. study released this week found that Moscow could push into the capitals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania within 60 hours of fighting. He asked Scaparrotti if he agreed with a finding in the report that the U.S. would be “out-ranged, outgunned, and outmatched” by Russian ground forces. “If you look at it in a concentrated way on the border of Eastern Europe and only on the ground force, I would agree with that statement. [But] we fight multi-domain,” said Scaparrotti, who is also the supreme allied commander of NATO. A key finding of the report was that Russia would have a substantial time and distance advantage during a ground attack on a NATO member in the Baltic region “because of its strong starting position and ability to reinforce with ground and air units from elsewhere.” Scaparrotti said the 29-nation alliance would prevail in a wider regional conflict with the Russians, but warned the U.S. does not have enough forces in Europe. “I don’t have all the forces I need in Europe today,” Scaparrotti said. Rand found Russian troops greatly outnumber NATO forces by 78,000 to nearly 32,000 in the area of the Baltic border countries. Europe Command is planning to build up those forces through the U.S. European Deterrence Initiative following a new two-year budget deal in Congress allowing increased defense funding, Scaparrotti said. WANTED: TURKEY AMBASSADOR: Scaparrotti, who will head to the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, also said he needs some diplomatic help, especially with Turkey. After more than a year in office, Trump has still not nominated an ambassador to Ankara, even as relations worsen over the war in Syria. “We don’t have an ambassador now and we are in very sensitive discussions in order to continue to reinforce and strengthen our relationship with a key NATO ally. The ambassador’s position is key,” Scaparrotti told senators. The U.S. has been supporting local Kurdish fighters in Syria as part of its war against the Islamic State group, but Turkey has labeled the Kurds a terrorist group and has attacked the fighters along its southern border. Scaparrotti said Turkey and two other NATO allies, Belgium and Iceland, are among numerous diplomatic posts that have to be filled. LAUGHING OFF LAVROV COMPLAINT: Tillerson dismissed complaints that he would not meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov while traveling in Africa as a “silly” controversy. “I’ve lost track of how many meetings he and I had last year. So any notion of us rejecting diplomatic engagement is really silly,” Tillerson said during a press availability in Ethiopia on Thursday. “That’s just silly.” Tillerson and Lavrov are expected to share a hotel in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, as both officials conduct multi-state swings through the region, but they won’t meet. That disconnect has prompted complaints from the Russian side, with Lavrov accusing U.S. officials of lying about Moscow’s outreach. THE RUNDOWN Business Insider: North Korea is suspiciously calm about one of its biggest complaints — and it may be a trap for the US Korean Herald: Upcoming South Korea-US Drills To Be “Consistent” With Previous Ones: US Navy Commander Reuters: Over hotpot and soju, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un joked about himself – South Korea officials New York Times: Tillerson, in Africa, Dodges Questions on Vulgarity and Trolling Army Times: Navy couple awarded $24.7M for Army medical center malpractice Navy Times: The rate of oxygen loss events in the Navy’s training jets has plummeted in the last 6 months Daily Beast: ‘Act of War’: British Lawmakers Fume Over Russian Spy Poisoning Task and Purpose: The Maker Of The AK-47 Just Released Footage Of Its Robot Tank In Action Defense News: New F-35 modernization plan could come with hefty $16B price tag Marine Corps Times: Congress grills Marines over M27 Defense News: The U.S. Navy is cancelling a program to turn gas-guzzling destroyers into hybrids Defense One: Russia Will Challenge U.S. Military Superiority in Europe by 2025: U.S. General Navy Times: DOD approves danger pay for Niger, Mali, Cameroon The Hill: Experts urge senators to back bill ending US involvement in Yemen war USNI News: Vice Adm. Karl Schultz Nominated to be Next Coast Guard Commandant AP: Army: No more kissing soldiers on St. Patrick’s in Savannah |
CalendarFRIDAY | MARCH 9 9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Sanctions in the Trump Era – One Year In. atlanticouncil.org 9 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. The Heritage Foundation Presents: A Conversation with Rep. Jim Banks on The Military Education Savings Accounts Act of 2018. heritage.org 10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. National Technology and Industrial Base Integration: How to Overcome Barriers and Capitalize on Cooperation. csis.org 10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy. csis.org 12 noon. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. US Counterterrorism: From Nixon to Trump – Key Challenges, Issues, and Responses. wilsoncenter.org 4 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Return of Marco Polo’s World: A Book Launch and Reception with Bestselling Author Robert Kaplan. csis.org MONDAY | MARCH 12 1:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Discussion with the Secretaries of the U.S. Military Departments including Army Secretary Mark Esper, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. csis.org TUESDAY | MARCH 13 7 a.m. 6715 Commerce St. 2018 Human Systems Conference. ndia.org 9 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Thinking the unthinkable: War on the Korean Peninsula. brookings.edu 9:30 a.m. Hart 216. United States Central Command and United States Africa Command with Gen. Joseph Votel, Commander of U.S. Central Command, and Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, Commander of U.S. Africa Command. armed-services.senate.gov 12 noon. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Consolidating and Losing Gains in Syria. hudson.org 2:30 p.m. Russell 222. Cyber Posture of the Services with Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, Commanding General of U.S. Army Cyber Command; Maj. Gen. Loretta Reynolds, Commander of Marine Forces Cyberspace Command; Maj. Gen. Christopher Weggeman, Commander, Air Forces Cyber; and Vice Adm. Michael Gilday, Commander of U.S. Navy Fleet Cyber Command. armed-services.senate.gov WEDNESDAY | MARCH 14 7 a.m. 6715 Commerce St. 2018 Human Systems Conference. ndia.org 8 a.m. 800 17th St. NW. Manufacturing Division Meeting. ndia.org 8 a.m. 2401 M St. NW. Defense Writers Group breakfast with IARPA Director Jason Matheny. 8 a.m. 1501 Lee Hwy. Mitchell Hour: Current Acquisition Challenges and Opportunities with a Discussion with Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, Commander of Air Force Materiel Command. mitchellaerospacepower.org 9 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Present and future dangers on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s reelection with Rep. Seth Moulton. aei.org 9 a.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The Future of BRAC: A Conversation with Rep. Adam Smith, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee. cato.org 10 a.m. House 140. Subcommittee Hearing on Fiscal Year 2019 Air Force Budget with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff. appropriations.house.gov 10 a.m. Dirksen 419. Subcommittee Hearing Somalia’s Current Security and Stability Status. foreign.senate.gov 10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Hearing on Space Warfighting Readiness: Policies, Authorities, and Capabilities. armedservices.house.gov 10 a.m. Rayburn 2172. Hearing on Modernizing Export Controls: Protecting Cutting-Edge Technology and U.S. National Security. foreignaffairs.house.gov 2 p.m. Rayburn 2212. Subcommittee Hearing on Department of the Air Force FY 2019 Budget Request for Sea Power and Projection Forces with Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force; Lt. Gen. Mark Nowland, Deputy Chief of Staff; and Lt. Gen. Jerry Harris, Deputy Chief of Staff. armedservices.house.gov 2:30 p.m. Russell 232-A. Subcommittee Hearing on Department of Energy Atomic Energy Defense Activities and Programs with Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, Undersecretary For Nuclear Security, Department Of Energy, and Adm. James Caldwell, Deputy Administrator For Naval Reactors, National Nuclear Security Administration. armed-services.senate.gov 3:30 p.m. Rayburn 2118. Subcommittee Hearing: A Review and Assessment of the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Request for Department of Defense Science and Technology with Rear Adm. David Hahn, Chief of Naval Research, and Steve Walker, Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. armedservices.house.gov 5:30 p.m. 1124 9th St. NW. Cocktails & Conversations: Why the Future of the Military is Miles Up. defenseone.com THURSDAY | MARCH 15 8 a.m. 800 17th St. NW. Manufacturing Division Meeting. ndia.org 10 a.m. House 140. Subcommittee Hearing on Fiscal Year 2019 Army Budget with Army Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, Chief of Staff of the Army. appropriations.house.gov 10 a.m. Dirksen 419. Full Committee Hearing Review of the FY 2019 State Department Budget Request and Redesign Plans with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. foreign.senate.gov 10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Hearing on Security Challenges in Europe and Posture for Inter-state Competition with Russia with Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, Commander of U.S. European Command. armedservices.house.gov 12:15 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Countering Authoritarianism and Advancing U.S. Interests in Latin America with Sen. Marco Rubio. heritage.org 1:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The My Lai Massacre: History, Lessons, and Legacy. A panel discussion with historians and military law experts. csis.org 2 p.m. Rayburn 2212. Subcommittee Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Request on Air Force Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Programs with Lt. Gen. Jerry Harris, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff, and Lt. Gen. Anthony Ierardi, Director of Force Structure, Resources, and Assessments at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. armedservices.house.gov 3:30 p.m. Rayburn 2118. Subcommittee Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Request for National Security Space Programs with Kenneth Rapuano, Assistant Secretary of Defense, and Gen. John Raymond, Commander of Air Force Space Command. armedservices.house.gov 4 p.m. 740 15th St. NW. Book discussion of “No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria” with author Rania Abouzeid. newamerica.org FRIDAY | MARCH 16 10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Strengthening Alliances and Partnerships through Defense Cooperation with Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. csis.org 11 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy: Why Strategic Superiority Matters. heritage.org 1:30 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. The National Security Implications of Withdrawing from NAFTA. heritage.org 1:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Responding to Russia: Deterring Russian Cyber and Grey Zone Activities. csis.org
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