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Friday, March 29, 2024

The Summit in Singapore

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After all the hype and focus of the world press on the Summit in Singapore between US President Donald John Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, what is there really to expect from this historical and unprecedented meeting?

I’m not going to dash the hopes of people yearning for peace in the Asia-Pacific region. Some observers called the Summit a success. International analysts, however, said the Trump- Kim meeting should not be compared to the landmark ice-breaking of the Cold War between President Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong.

That Trump and Kim who are diametrically opposed ideologies met at all is indeed something to be sanguine about . No US president has ever met with a North Korean leader starting from its first “supreme leader” Kim Il Sung who ascended into power in 1948. He passed on the title to his son Kim Jong Il . The current leader is the son of Jong Il and the grandson of Il Sung. This continues the longest bloodline of family succession barring the rule of the English royals.

The pledge of Kim Jong-un, the third generation of the Kim dynasty, that he will undertake his country’s denuclearization certainly will ease tension in the region and in the Korean peninsula. If he does, scarce funds can instead be funneled to improve the lives of his people.

That however , is a long way down the road. A pledge and a commitment of denuclearization and dismantling of all North Korea’s missile arsenal has to be verified by an independent body like the United Nations and its relevant agency, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA is tasked with overseeing the compliance with non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

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If at all, the best quote in this summit was from Kim who said “ this meeting sets aside all the prejudices of the past and should be seen as a prelude to peace.” This was from someone whom Trump called “the little rocket man.” The words may not have been Kim’s own original version but it showed he had a better set of speechwriters than the American president.

While credit must be accorded Trump for being the first American president to travel that far to Singapore , he left the Group of 7 leaders meeting in Canada in disarray. He arrived late for the G-7 and left early without signing nor endorsing the Group’s joint communiqué. It was total disregard of military and economic allies to meet with a former enemy he had been trading threats of nuclear strike.

Trump, in his post-summit statement, trumpeted the great progress made in his meeting with Kim. From the viewpoint of world analysts, however, Kim got more out of this meeting in Singapore. He stands to gain from the economic ties with the US when Trump declared he would lift sanctions against Pyongyang. So on second thought, the pudgy little man with the bad haircut may be smarter than most of us gave him credit for. Kim trumped Trump in the art of the deal which the latter touts himself as the master.

Trump and Kim, after their meeting, agreed to visit each other’s countries. This exchange of visits could lead to the opening of diplomatic relations between Washington and Pyongyang. As it is, the People’s Republic of Korea would probably gain more because diplomatic ties would end its isolation from the rest of the world. But what is to trade between North Korea and the US? Known as the hermit kingdom, North Korea’s economy is entirely dependent on its neighbor and ally China. Then, what can North Korean consumers afford that the US will export to that cash-strapped nation? Certainly not American-made cars. Motor vehicles from Japan and South Korea are more affordable, considering the lower freight cost of shipping from the two nearby countries.

If the North Korean leader opens his nation’s doors to South Korea’s exports, it could also open the door to a new era North-South relationship. The prospect of families separated by the Korean War to be reunited now looms large in the horizon.

It may be too much to hope for, but who knows? Beyond the Summit in Singapore may lie the possibility of reunification of the two Koreas. East and West Germany did it and look where that nation is right now—an economic power house not only in Europe but in the world.

Indeed, there are lessons to be learned from history.

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