The volatile relationship between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and most of the rest of the world has largely hinged on his incessant pursuit of nuclear weapons. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said agreements about denuclearisation, establishing a peace regime and normalisation of relations between the Koreas and the US should not be difficult to reach through a North-South summit next week, and a later summit planned between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump. But North Korea for decades has been pushing a concept of “denuclearization” that bears no resemblance to the American definition, vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its troops from the peninsula and the nuclear umbrella defending South Korea and Japan. But the visit underscores the confidence that Trump has developed in Pompeo, a former Tea Party congressman who has emerged as one of the president’s closest advisers — a stark contrast to Rex Tillerson, whom Trump fired as secretary of state days after he accepted Kim’s invitation to meet. As long as they can meet, I don’t think Trump will admit that this important decision of meeting Kim Jong Un was a mistake.
South Korea states that North Korea has expressed a desire to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula without attaching preconditions such as withdrawing US troops.