Editorial | Trump and Kim must take the next step after ad hoc meeting
- The road ahead is full of questions and uncertainties and it will take much discussion and planning, not mere grandstanding, for a positive outcome
There is an element of reality television in much of what United States President Donald Trump does, understandable given that it is through that entertainment medium that he gained international fame. His spur-of-the-moment decision to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas seemed about seeking publicity as he campaigns for a second term.
The Twitter messages he sent in the hours before set a scene of anticipation, while handshakes and smiles at so symbolic a location were guaranteed to grab global media attention. But it is to be hoped that the event was about more than gaining accolades from a home audience; genuine effort is needed at all levels if there is to be a lasting deal to bring stability to the Korean peninsula.
Trump made history yesterday afternoon when he shook hands with Kim across the demarcation line in the meeting room in the truce village of Panmunjom, then stepped across to join him, becoming the first serving American president to stand on North Korean soil. The pair then moved to the South Korean side for talks.
It was the second time they had met since a breakthrough summit in Singapore in June last year that kick-started negotiations for denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and bringing a formal end to the war the nations fought from 1950 to 1953. But a second round of dialogue in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February broke down in disagreement over the terms of the North’s scrapping of its weapons and the fate of further discussions has been in limbo.
China and South Korea have since been trying to get the sides talking again. President Xi Jinping made the first trip to Pyongyang by a Chinese leader in 14 years the week before talks with Trump on Saturday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, enabling him to convey Kim’s sentiments.
The trade war between the US and China was the focus of attention at G20, but with Trump going to South Korea afterwards, injecting new life into the denuclearisation process was also important. The strategy quickly bore fruit; the US president was soon sending messages on Twitter expressing interest in seeing Kim again and by yesterday morning, the meeting had been confirmed.