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Will Kim and Trump be able to discuss a peace treaty?

Posted April. 24, 2018 07:38,   

Updated April. 24, 2018 07:38

한국어

“The success of the upcoming bilateral summit depends upon when the two leaders will put a peace treaty on the table.”

There will be tense negotiations on issues of striking a peace deal or declaring a permanent ceasefire in the Trump-Kim meeting slated to take place in May or early June, said Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center. “Kim Jong Un will use a peace treaty as a bargaining chip for denuclearization, by bringing up the issue within thirty minutes after the talks begin.”

“If a peace deal is concluded, a series of issues including the declaration of ceasefire, the normalization of the U.S.-North Korea relations, the establishment of U.S. representative in Pyongyang, the withdrawal or reduction of U.S. troops from South Korea, will be up for discussion,” Klingner said in an interview The Dong-A Ilbo over the weekend, predicting North Korea will try to resolve all these issues at the negotiating table.

“The U.S. negotiating team should delay discussing a peace treaty until the last minute while making no clear concessions to Pyongyang’s demands. For that, we need veteran officials who know how to deal with North Korea,” he added. “President Donald Trump believes he can persuade North Korea, but it’s wrong.”

Klinger said negotiations are done by senior and working-level officials and on the part of the president, he confirm‎s and announces to the people what have been agreed, on the grounds that the top decision maker does not know the subject well and his failure to negotiate will cause serious seepage of power.


Mi-Kyung Jung mickey@donga.com