The Trump administration has been pushing North Korea hard to meet the terms outlined in the agreement the two countries made in Singapore — especially the repatriation of recovered possible remains of U.S. service members. On Friday, North Korea seemed to uphold that part of the deal, handing over 55 sets of remains.
Following the handover, North Korea will likely press for further concessions from the U.S. such as lifting sanctions and normalizing relations. But the White House can’t forget Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s more important commitment: denuclearizing.
For one thing, the remains handed over on Friday had already been recovered and were being used as a bargaining chip against the U.S. Before they were handed over, North Korea repeatedly delayed and canceled meetings with U.S. officials even though the agreement in June specified that they be handed over “immediately.”
The recovery process itself was not undertaken willingly, but has consistently been used to extract money from the United States. To date, the Department of Defense has provided nearly $28 million to North Korea to assist with the recovery of remains. Since 1990, North Korea has produced possible remains of 340 U.S. troops.
Moreover, the latest remains might not even be U.S. service members. While North Korea claims to have done its best to determine that the remains were indeed members of the U.S. military, they must still be verified with DNA testing.
Given North Korea’s history of pulling back on negotiations, the White House must continue to push North Korea to denuclearize and agree to the monitoring and testing of nuclear sites.
Although recent satellite images that appear to show the dismantling of nuclear facilities are promising, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to North Korea was less so.
During that trip, U.S. demands for monitoring and inspection as part of a denuclearization agreement were called “gangster-like” by North Korea. The North Korean Foreign Ministry also seemed to indicate that the agreement between President Trump and Kim did not actually call for the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea. But without complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization, we don’t really have peace.
Trump must remain cautious with North Korea. Although the statement on the repatriation of remains is optimistic, saying, “We are encouraged by North Korea’s actions and the momentum for positive change,” behind those words the U.S. must not grant North Korea’s request for concessions without a firm commitment to denuclearize and for that process to be verified.
