PYONGYANG, North Korea — The series of photos on the front page of the ruling workers' party newspaper showed something North Koreans never would have imagined just months ago — their leader Kim Jong Un warmly shaking hands with President Donald Trump. The priority treatment of what even Pyongyang is calling the "historic" meeting between Kim and Trump in Singapore underscores just how much of a propaganda coup the North saw in Tuesday's unprecedented summit. Dubbing it the start of a new relationship between their countries, which are still technically at war, Pyongyang's first reports Wednesday stressed to the North Korean people that Trump agreed at Kim's demand to halt joint military exercises with South Korea as long as talks toward easing tensions continue and suggested that Trump also said he would lift sanctions as negotiations progressed. "President Trump appreciated that an atmosphere of peace and stability was created on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, although distressed with the extreme danger of armed clash only a few months ago, thanks to the proactive peace-loving measures taken by the respected Supreme Leader from the outset of this year," said a summary of the meeting by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency. The Singapore summit capped a swift and astonishing turn of events that began on New Year's Day with a pledge by Kim to reach out to the world now that his nuclear forces have been completed. His focus on diplomacy, including earlier meetings with the leaders of China and South Korea, is a sharp contrast with his rapid-fire testing of long-range missiles and the fiery exchanges of threats and insults last year that created real fears of a war on the Korean Peninsula. Commuters in Pyongyang read the Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Wednesday, which featured images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meeting with President Donald Trump. Kyodo / Reuters Kim has portrayed the switch as a natural next step now that he has what he stresses is a credible and viable nuclear arsenal capable of keeping the U.S. at bay. The framing that he went into the summit as an equal and from a position of strength is crucial within North Korea, after enduring years of tough sanctions while it pursued its nuclear ambitions. Kim's vows to denuclearize were reported by state media Wednesday within that context — that Pyongyang would respond to easing of what it sees as the U.S. hostile policy against it with commensurate but gradual moves toward "the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." "Kim Jong Un and Trump had the shared recognition to the effect that it is important to abide by the principle of step-by-step and simultaneous action in achieving peace, stability and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," KCNA reported. That doesn't seem to pin the North down to the concrete and unilateral measures Trump said he would demand going into the talks and it remains to be seen what significant changes could occur now that they seem to be moving toward more peaceful relations. Both sides promised to push the process forward quickly, and Trump and Kim exchanged invitations to each other to visit their nations' capitals. North Koreans crowd around newspapers on display on a subway platform in Pyongyang on Wednesday. Ed Jones / AFP - Getty Images Interestingly, the North made no secret of China's behind-the-scenes presence at the summit. A flurry of media coverage the day Kim arrived in Singapore showed him waving from the door of the specially chartered Air China flight that brought him from Pyongyang. That is another key to what lies ahead. Kim's biggest task in the months ahead will most likely be to try to push China, his country's key trading partner, to lift its sanctions and to entice South Korea to start once again offering crucial investment in joint ventures and infrastructure projects. In the meantime, however, the North appears to be basking in its leader's new found status as the most popular kid on the block. "Singapore, the country of the epoch-making meeting much awaited by the whole world, was awash with thousands of domestic and foreign journalists and a large crowd of masses to see this day's moment which will remain long in history," KCNA noted.<doc-sep>The world just witnessed history in the making: A little before 2 pm local time in Singapore, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed an agreement committing to work together to “build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.” Sitting side by side at a table flanked by alternating US and North Korean flags, Trump and Kim each signed copies of what Trump described as a “very important” and “pretty comprehensive document,” though he declined to elaborate on the details of the agreement at the time. “We had a historic meeting and decided to leave the past behind and sign a historic document,” Kim told reporters at the signing ceremony, speaking through a translator. “The world will see a major change.” The signing ceremony, which took place at the Capella hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa island, was the dramatic climax of a nearly five-hour summit between the two leaders and their top aides. Shortly after the ceremony, the text of the document was released to journalists covering the summit. The agreement consists of four major points: The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new US-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity. (DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the formal name of North Korea.) The US and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018, Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The US and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified. It’s far from a peace treaty or a comprehensive agreement to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. Nor does it even clarify what each side means by “denuclearization.” As Vox’s Zack Beauchamp has written, that word means very different things to the US and North Korea. But it’s still progress. Less than a year ago, Trump was threatening to rain down “fire and fury like the world has never seen” on North Korea and Kim was calling Trump a “mentally deranged US dotard” and “carefully examining” plans for a missile strike on US military bases in Guam. But after a day spent talking, laughing, eating, and strolling leisurely with one another, the two men have “developed a very special bond,” according to Trump. It’s a stunning turn of events. And while it’s just the beginning of what will likely be a long and complicated negotiating process — one that could break down at any time — it’s certainly a positive start. “We’ll be meeting again a great many times,” Trump said after signing the document. Asked if he plans to invite Kim to the White House, Trump responded, “Absolutely I will.”<doc-sep>President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference after his summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, June 12, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) President Trump is tweeting up a storm this morning on the topic of how he’s brought us peace in our time. Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018 Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer – sleep well tonight! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018 We save a fortune by not doing war games, as long as we are negotiating in good faith – which both sides are! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018 There are so many points one could dilate on. The “deal” we struck is less concrete and detailed than the previous deals we cut with North Korea. It contains fewer assurances and binding guarantees than the Iran Deal. Though Trump does have a point when he says, at least we’re not giving North Korea $150 billion. These tweets contradict Trump’s own statements about the work that still needs to be done. And so on. Advertisement But the interesting question for me is whether or not “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.” On the most basic level this is pure balderdash. Literally no facts on the ground have changed from the day before the summit. The Norks have the same missiles, the same warheads, and the same capacity to do what they wish. There has not been a single relevant or meaningful de-escalation on the ground (or under it). But politically, is it true that the nuclear threat has been eliminated? After all, France and Great Britain have nukes, and there’s no threat there because what matters is the nature and intent of the regime, not the technical capability. Nukes don’t nuke people, people nuke people and all that. It seems pretty clear to me that at least for the next six months (which will conveniently get us through the midterms) the threat of confrontation with North Korea has lessened. But beyond that it seems to me that war is probably on net more likely now than it was before. If you take it as a given that the North Koreans will not get rid of their nuclear program, at least not based on anything that happened in Singapore, then disappointment and anger is inevitable. Again, this time may be different. But the only new variable on the American side is Trump’s personal charisma, his unseemly praise of a murderer, and the whole spectacle of the summit. On the North Korean side, Kim Jong-un is a somewhat new figure, but there’s scant reason to believe he wants to take up Trump’s suggestion and trade his nukes for beachside condos on the North Korean coast. Kim left Singapore with many wins; America’s remain to be realized. Advertisement Comparisons to Munich fall apart in all sorts of ways, but there’s still some connective tissue between Chamberlain’s “Peace in Our Time” pronouncement and Trump’s the-threat-is-over tweets. The most obvious is that both men were wrong. Chamberlain didn’t buy “peace in our time,” and Trump has in no way eliminated the threat on the Korean peninsula. More relevant though: Munich ultimately made war more likely, not less. Why? Because by giving Hitler the benefit of the doubt in exchange for promises he never intended to honor, it made Hitler’s subsequent aggressions all the more clarifying. The West could feel like it had gone the last mile for diplomacy and that there were no options left when Hitler invaded Poland. As Erik von Kuehnelt Leddihn, John O’Sullivan, Nick Baumann, and others have argued, there’s a better case than is commonly acknowledged in defense of Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler. Britain and France were not ready to intervene on behalf of Czechoslovakia. They needed to time to re-arm, etc. A similar case can be made here. America is war weary. The last thing the South Koreans want is war, and their government is full of peaceniks. Going the last mile for diplomacy makes some sense, even though I would have liked a very different kind of diplomatic overture. Advertisement What concerns me is that Trump has personalized all of this. He’s basing his peace-in-our-time tweets on his personal relationship with a rotund sociopath and egomaniac, and his gut instinct that a proven liar is acting in good faith. If — when — the North Koreans demonstrate their bad faith and determination to keep their nuclear program, it will be a personal embarrassment and humiliation of Trump himself. How will he react to that?<doc-sep>
The Detroit News Donald Trump's sit-down with North Korea's Kim Jong Un was neither a historic success nor an epic failure. Hopefully, it turns out to be a good start. The spare framework the summit produced begins what is bound to be a lengthy process, and one that hopefully will produce the complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. That still seems unlikely, and in any case was too much to expect from a one-day session. So seize the good news: The agreement signed by Kim and Trump at the end of the day commits their two nations to working together toward the goal of peace. Whether it falls apart short of its goal it still is preferable to marching steadily toward a nuclear confrontation, which was the path the two nations were on before the tone suddenly changed and they committed to the summit instead. Whether it was Trump's capability or Kim's desperation for relief from crippling economic sanctions that brought them to the table doesn't much matter. The two leaders are now talking instead of trading threats. From here, the work gets really hard, and potentially treacherous. Kim should not be allowed to harbor any illusions that the agreement to negotiate buys him time to further refine his nuclear arsenal. Any hint that work is continuing to perfect the delivery of a nuclear warhead must be met forcibly by the United States. Trump agreed to suspend military exercises with South Korea while negotiations are underway. That was an important good faith gesture, but came without commensurate concessions from Kim, and that's a bad start to the bargaining. However, Trump offered no relief from the economic sanctions, nor should he until there is verifiable evidence that North Korea is destroying its nuclear capacity. Sanctions can serve as a valve to reduce pressure as Kim delivers on his promise, or to increase it if bargaining stalls. This summit was hastily arranged, without the meticulous preparation that would normally precede such a significant sit-down. So now the detail work begins, and until it takes form, it is impossible to judge the end game of either Trump or Kim. Is the North Korea dictator truly motivated by a desire to build a functional economy for his nation and a less dangerous future for himself? Or is he carrying China's water? Is Trump seeking a more influential role for the United States on the Pacific Rim, or does he ultimately want to abandon the region, pulling the U.S. out of South Korea and Japan? Such a realignment of alliances would work against the interests of the United States and increase the influence of China. Negotiations must proceed without the pretense that we are at some new place with North Korea. It's too soon to say that. The nation is built on deceit and despotism, and has dangled these same promises before. North Korea should not be again rewarded for making pledges it has no intention of keeping. There are delicate days ahead as the diplomats sit down to do the sweaty work of attaching solid pieces to this framework. The chances of the process delivering the true denuclearization the United States seeks remain remote. But if it did nothing more than stabilize the peninsula and remove the immediate threat, it puts the world in a better place than before. An uncertain and rocky path to peace is always a better choice than a course that leads to war.