On Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that another meeting between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is in the works. Working towards denuclearization is great, but there should be no second meeting until North Korea has taken steps to honor the agreement signed in Singapore.
The announcement of planning for a second meeting stemmed not from signs of progress towards denuclearization, but from a “very warm” letter from Kim to Trump that requested another chance to talk with the president.
That’s not how negotiations should work. A meeting between the president of the United States and the leader of a dangerous rogue state should not come cheap. It should be offered as a reward for clear progress.
Sanders, in her explanation, seemed to recognize this and said that the fact that nuclear missiles had not been on display at the most recent Founding Day parade should be considered “a sign of good faith.” Not parading nuclear warheads in the streets, however, has little bearing on the status of the country’s nuclear program. It should not, on its own, be considered an indicator of progress.
Recent intelligence on the status of the nuclear program would be a far better measure. Based on that, North Korea has not made any moves toward denuclearization and, instead, has taken steps to conceal its weapons while continuing to work on developing its weapons program.
That is not at all a sign of good faith, but instead a warning that, as in the past, North Korea has no intention of giving up his nuclear weapons.
As national security adviser John Bolton explained, “President Trump can’t make the North Koreans walk through the door he’s holding open.”
That’s true, and the president should not be freely giving away another meeting, which Kim clearly wants, without real signs he’s bringing North Korea closer to walking through that door.
