Amid White House damage control claiming that Trump misspoke during the infamous press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the president also signaled that he was again changing his tune on U.S. engagement with North Korea tweeting:
….Russia has agreed to help with North Korea, where relationships with us are very good and the process is moving along. There is no rush, the sanctions remain! Big benefits and exciting future for North Korea at end of process!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2018
Trump’s latest take shows that what he refused to learn from his advisers, he may have finally learned from experience: Action on North Korea is a complex and slow-moving process.
This is a significant change from Trump’s earlier approach to the isolated dictatorship where he initially called for immediate and complete denuclearization and, earlier this summer, held a summit meeting with Kim Jong Un. Although no binding document was produced, Trump was quick to claim success from that trip, tweeting “…everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.”
Trump’s quick and declarative assessment was, of course, subsequently proven wrong by satellite surveillance that revealed that the nuclear program is ongoing with no indication of steps to denuclearize. This lack of progress was confirmed after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returned from Pyongyang without a firm commitment or timeline for denuclearization.
Although these developments mean that Trump’s plans for a quick resolution were short-lived, the president’s more realistic approach will better prepare him for serious negotiations and, hopefully, serious solutions.
Trump’s tweet, however, shows that there are some aspects of negotiating that he still needs to figure out. He also praises a Russian offer of assistance on North Korea, writing: “Russia has agreed to help with North Korea, where relationships with us are very good and the process is moving along.” This is an offer that the president should not accept.
Not only would it add further legitimate criticism of his inability to appropriately deal with Russia and Putin but it would also be a poor choice for national security. Giving Russia, a known malicious actor, direct access to a country where it has its own interests and ambitions is no gift for the U.S.
Economically, Russia would likely seek to capitalize on bolstered ties to the region to access North Korea’s ice-free port in Rajin, increased trade, and the possibly of a direct link to Moscow, through the North Korean capital, to Seoul. Politically, Russia might also try to take advantage of likely political turmoil within North Korea to establish a pro-Moscow government.
On North Korea, Trump is right to pursue a more cautious but optimistic approach to denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. From such actions, the U.S. may well see progress on issues such as the repatriation of the remains of U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean war. In pursuing such a path, however, Trump must remain vigilant and should not accept offers of assistance from Russia.
