Re-election Challenges Trump from ‘Fire and Wrath’ to North Korea Summit Diplomacy and Negotiations | Voice of america

President Donald Trump, who is facing re-election, has addressed North Korea as a major external issue during his first term. During three meetings with the North Korean leader, they carried out unprecedented top-down diplomacy. However, no real progress has been made in denuclearization and bilateral relations. Reporter Park Hyeong-ju summarized President Trump’s progress toward North Korea over the past four years.

President Trump, who said he could negotiate with Kim Jong-un four years ago when he was a presidential candidate, had to deal with high-intensity provocations from North Korea during his first year in office (2017).

North Korea, which began the provocations 23 days after the Trump administration took office, conducted two nuclear tests and test launches of more than 20 ballistic missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

President Trump responded with a strong investigation.

[녹취: 트럼프 대통령/2017년 8월]”They will meet fire, fury and, frankly, a power such as this world has never seen before.”

If North Korea does not stop the provocations, it warned that “we will face flames and anger”, and also accused President Kim Jong-un of “the rocket kills itself.”

[녹취: 트럼프 대통령/2017년 유엔 연설] “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself.”

President Trump’s response was not just words.

US aircraft carriers and nuclear bombers were deployed to the Korean peninsula, and the United Nations continued to lead high-intensity sanctions against North Korea, pulling the reins of “maximum pressure.”

But starting the following year, the atmosphere changed dramatically.

Building on the historic US-North Korea summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018, President Trump launched a “ top-down ” summit diplomacy with North Korea.

At a press conference after the first summit, President Trump declared that “President Kim Jong-un took a drastic first step toward a brighter future for the North Korean people,” saying, “We will open a new history” of relations. between the United States and North Korea.

[녹취:트럼프 대통령/ 2018년 싱가포르 정상회담 기자회견] “We are ready to start a new story and we are ready to write a new chapter among our nations.”

Since then, unprecedented scenarios have been directed in bilateral relations.

President Trump met three times a year with a North Korean leader who had been hostile for 70 years.

In addition, he was the first president of the United States to set foot on North Korean soil for a time in Panmunjom. This is President Kim Jong-un’s comment.

[녹취: 김정은 위원장/2019년 6월 판문점 미-북 정상회동] “If you take another step, you will be the first president of the United States to set foot on our land.”

In addition, they exchanged friendships with President Kim Jong-un at least 28 times and continued diplomacy between the United States and North Korea based on the close friendship between the leaders.

President Trump stressed that whenever he had the opportunity, this relationship with the North Korean leader had solved the ‘North Korean nuclear threat’.

[녹취: 트럼프 대통령/ 2차 대선 후보 토론] “North Korea, we are not at war. We have a good relationship. People don’t understand. Having a good relationship with leaders from other countries is a good thing ”.

In fact, North Korea has not conducted nuclear tests or ICBM test launches since the launch of the ICMB’Mars 15 ‘on November 29, 2017.

However, when the second summit between the United States and North Korea in Hanoi ended in a collapse without any consensus, progress toward denuclearization and the change in relations between the United States and North Korea, the core of the Joint Declaration of Singapore has stalled.

In the midst of this, some are criticizing that “while President Trump gave legitimacy to the gangster regime, North Korea’s nuclear missile capabilities are further increased, posing a greater threat to the United States.”

In fact, during the second television debate last month, Democratic candidate Joe Biden argued that President Trump gave North Korea legitimacy through a meeting with President Kim Jong-un.

[녹취: 민주당 바이든 후보/2차 대선 후보 토론] “It has legitimized North Korea. You have talked about your good friend, who is a bully, a bully. And talk about how we are better. And they have much more capable missiles, capable of reaching our territory much more easily than ever.

Some also criticize President Trump for suspending or curtailing the combined U.S.-Korean military exercises for negotiations with North Korea, virtually tolerating North Korean missile launches, and neglecting North Korea’s human rights issues.

However, if President Trump is successful in re-election, the prospect is predominantly that he will continue summit diplomacy with the existing “top-down” method.

In fact, during the campaign, President Trump expressed his willingness to quickly reach an agreement with North Korea if he is re-elected.

[녹취: 트럼프 대통령] “If and when we win, we will make deals with Iran very quickly, we will make deals with North Korea very quickly.”

In July, North Korea also strongly expressed its intention to negotiate with the Trump administration in the second term through a speech by Kim Yeo-jeong, saying: “I wish you good results for President Trump’s business.”
The world is paying attention to whether President Trump can succeed in re-election and resume denuclearization negotiations between the United States and North Korea, which has been in a long stalemate.

This is VOA News, Hyungjoo Park.