Kevin Lim/The Straits Times via ZUMA
I don’t think any of us were expecting a lot from the Trump-Kim summit, but is this really it? The joint statement just released says only that “President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” That’s all. There are no concrete commitments or policy changes. This is followed by four empty bullet points:
Four points of the Trump-Kim Declaration:
1. The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new U.S.-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) June 12, 2018
2. “The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.”
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) June 12, 2018
3. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) June 12, 2018
4. The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) June 12, 2018
Donald Trump is a master of marketing puffery, but how does he manage to spin this into any kind of success? Aside from the fact that both sides have apparently decided not to declare immediate nuclear war on each other, there’s literally nothing here.
