Opinion | US-North Korea talks remain best way to achieve lasting peace
- It may have been a letdown for the nuclear disarmament cause, but the collapse of the Hanoi summit did not entirely come as a surprise and both parties must continue to meet
Beyond that there is not even a plan for a third summit at this stage. But so long as Kim avoids nuclear provocations there has to be hope that continued negotiations through backchannels, free of the pressures of global and domestic expectations of a major summit, get around obstacles so intractable they prompted the two sides to abruptly cancel lunch and a joint signing ceremony yesterday and head home empty-handed. The sticking points were apparently reciprocal. Trump said he was unwilling to lift sanctions in return for North Korea dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear facility. Kim wanted sanctions lifted first. A formal end to the state of war between the two sides thus remains a distant goal.
The outcome also reflects Kim’s new year speech, when he said that if the US continued with sanctions, North Korea “might” be obliged to seek a “new way”. Redoubled negotiating efforts with redoubled patience on both sides would be a safer option for the world than the harder line signalled by this language. Having helped facilitate the summit, Beijing has an interest in seeing the process is not entirely wasted or momentum allowed to lapse.
Now that North Korea is a nuclear power, continued talks will help ensure that Kim is less likely to feel the need to use it. In that regard it is good to hear Trump say the relationship with Kim remains strong, and that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed optimism and “hope that we’ll [get a bit further] in the weeks ahead”.