Now is the wrong time for a North Korea-South Korea summit

For a start, Kim Jong Un has done nothing to justify the further diplomatic prestige that a follow-up visit would engender. While Kim has pledged to improve relations with the U.S. and South Korea, and to disarm himself of nuclear weapons, he has done nothing to follow through on his words. To the contrary, North Korea continues to develop a nuclear missile capable of striking the U.S. homeland. That conduct is a stubborn obstacle to arguments in favor of a new Moon-Kim summit. To sit down with Kim Jong Un would signal South Korean satisfaction with the current state of diplomacy.

Yet a summit wouldn’t just be problematic for U.S. interests vis-a-vis North Korea directly. That’s because Seoul is increasingly avowed in its appeasement policy towards Pyongyang. Where during the first year of the Trump administration the South Koreans were supportive of U.S. pressure on North Korea, today things are different. In 2018, President Moon appears willing to give up just about any diplomatic, economic, or military concession as long as North Korea keeps promising peace.

And while the U.S. is right not to replicate South Korea’s appeasement, neither can Trump allow it to go on unchallenged. The problem here is that every time South Korea relaxes its posture toward Kim Jong Un, it signals to other actors that they can do the same. In turn, we see China and Russia helping North Korea breach United Nations sanctions and thus strengthening its economy against Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy. The Chinese also use their influence over Pyongyang to pressure South Korea into separating itself from Trump. Again, the Chinese interest in the Asia-Pacific is ultimately not what North Korea does, but rather how Beijing can use North Korea to weaken U.S. interests and alliances.

Yes, at some point a new Moon-Kim summit might be justified. But that point has definitely not yet arrived. Trump should make clear as much to his South Korean counterpart.