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North Korea's Leader Kim Jong-un Says He'll Give Up Weapons if US Promises Not to Invade (nytimes.com)

Posted by msmash on from the breaking-news dept.

Several readers have shared a report: North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, told President Moon Jae-in of South Korea when they met that he would abandon his nuclear weapons if the United States would agree to formally end the Korean War and promise that it would not invade his country, a South Korean government spokesman said Sunday. In a faith-building gesture ahead of a summit meeting with President Trump, Mr. Kim also said he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the United States to watch the shutdown next month of his country's only known underground nuclear test site.

The comments by Mr. Kim were made on Friday when the leaders of the two Koreas met at Panmunjom, a village on their shared border, the spokesman, Yoon Young-chan, said on Sunday, providing additional details of the meeting. "I know the Americans are inherently disposed against us, but when they talk with us, they will see that I am not the kind of person who would shoot nuclear weapons to the south, over the Pacific or at the United States," Mr. Kim told Mr. Moon, according to Mr. Yoon's account of the meeting. It was another dramatically conciliatory statement by Mr. Kim, whose country threatened to do exactly those things during the height of nuclear tensions last year.

9 of 406 comments (clear)

  1. pinky swear by mschoolbus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yea, sure, we promise.

    1. Re:pinky swear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I am not familiar with the details beyond the occasional headline, but it sure looks like one or both of these things has happened:

      1) Kim Jong-un did not inherit his father's insanity; he was merely raised within it's influence. Now that he has been on his own for a while, he is actually sane enough to listen to some reasonable advisers and shake off the nonsense his father imposed. He is grasping the big picture; including the nature of the global economy and how his country desperately needs to get on board if it is going to have a future (which requires playing nice).

      2) Something, possibly Trump, possibly waning support from China, has him scared shitless.

    2. Re:pinky swear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Or 3) It's a trap!

    3. Re:pinky swear by Junta · · Score: 5, Insightful

      1) Is contra-indicated by his behavior up until this year. Reportedly in some ways he was even more ruthless than his father. His rhetoric was even more aggressive.

      2) More likely this, specifically the aftermath of the nuclear test site collapse seemed to be a key turning point. Not only would this have likely set back their program, perhaps beyond recovery, it also demonstrated how much damage their messing around could do to the geology, right on China's border.After that point, everything toned downed rapidly. A few weeks ago he suddenly was willing to meet.
        Then a couple of weeks ago, presumable at China's insistance, Kim Jong Un went to Beijing. We are note privy to what happened in that meeting, but afterward, NK was much more concrete about terms to wind things down, though the general overtures were promising prior to that.

      Trump's rhetoric *probably* wasn't it, perhaps the elevated sanctions contributed, but I suspect if not for the test site incident, they'd still be betting on threat of force by nukes to keep things going until they'd control South Korea on their terms. Now it seems they've decided to appease the international community in exchange for guarantees their internal affairs would be left alone (which the rest of the world has already seemed content to leave alone, regardless of severity of atrocity).

      --
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    4. Re:pinky swear by alvinrod · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Kim Jong Un could still be quite insane and it seems he at least learned enough of the regular saber-rattling technique from his old man to keep up appearances, but I think that he just ran into someone who was even more unhinged. Someone like a U.S. president that constantly shit talks everyone and anyone on twitter, constantly opens his mouth to invite even more legal trouble that wouldn't exist if he'd just shut up, and who seems to have no problem changing his mind about something mid-sentence.

      Kim was like the deranged homeless guy that everyone wanted to stay away from and so people would just let him rummage through their dumpsters because no one really wants to confront the guy for fear of what might happen, and to some degree that homeless guy probably drums up the act a bit because he knows that this works. However, Trump is like a new homeless dude that's caked in mud and smells like piss that's screaming about god or the government that even the other homeless people don't want to fuck with because even they're a little bit worried about what this crazy mother fucker is going to do.

      Trump kind of terrifies everyone else because they aren't quite sure how he'll act or behave and most other political leaders really don't want someone to introduce enough chaos that it causes their own gravy train to come crashing down as well. Trump is the new crazy man that the rest of the world leaders will seek to appease because even thought it means giving in a little, it seems to be less painful than what might happen if he doesn't get his way.

      Some people want to argue that all of this is somehow brilliant political maneuvering on Trump's part, but that's being far, far too gracious. He may not be the type of complete idiot that much of the media would like to portray him as, but that doesn't make him some kind of chess master playing a highly skilled game that leaves his opponents caught in any number of clever snares. I think it's more of an idiot hero trope comparison where's he's so far out of his league that he's outmaneuvering opponents who were expecting a second best duelist instead of someone who looks like him might stab himself at any given moment.

    5. Re: pinky swear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Don't worry. We've got the world best negotiator on our side! Really, really great. Many are saying he's the best the world has ever seen!

  2. Trump's actually sanctioning Chinese companies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Instead of ignoring mostly-Chinese companies that do business with North Korea (as Presidents past have done), Trump is actually going after them:

    US unveils largest sanctions yet on ships, companies trading with North Korea

    The illegal foreign trade that Kim Jong-un uses to keep his army loyal is being threatened if not actually cut off. And he's squirming. Finally.

  3. An unprecedented breakthrough by quantaman · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just look at all the goodwill!
    With surprising speed and warmth, the presidents of North and South Korea reached a broad agreement on Wednesday to work for peace and unity on their bitterly divided peninsula, the biggest step by either side to ease tensions in 50 years.
    The agreement, which came after more than three hours of talks in the North Korea capital, Pyongyang, on the second day of their first summit meeting, was signed and toasted by President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea and President Kim Jong Il of the North, who were shown on South Korean television clinking champagne glasses, shaking hands vigorously and smiling broadly.
    [...]
    The general points agreed on included the need for reconciliation and unification; the establishment of peace; the commencement in August of exchange visits by members of divided families; and more cultural exchanges.

    Wait a minute... Kim Jong... Il?

    Oooooh, that article is talking about the peace breakthrough from 2000. My bad, just got the wrong link!

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  4. Re:Remember Gaddafi by Solandri · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Korean War was a UN police action, like the first Gulf War when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Taiwan held China's vote in the UN Security Council at the time, and the USSR was boycotting the UN that week so wasn't present to veto the UN Security Council authorization to intervene in Korea to counter North Korea's invasion. (North Korea concocted the fantasy that the South invaded the North, though enough time has passed that the vast majority of its population has been taught this as truth.)

    The U.S. troops in South Korea number fewer than 24,000, vs North Korea's standing army of 1.2 million (4th largest in the world), and would be inconsequential in any hypothetical invasion of North Korea. The U.S. troops are present for one simple reason - to be overrun and die if North Korea should invade again, thereby giving the U.S. an excuse to intervene on South Korea's behalf without having to go through the UN again. The troops there are fully aware of this - they call themselves "speed bumps".

    Withdrawing U.S. troops from South Korea would require some sort of ironclad guarantee that North Korea would not invade again, or a guarantee of immediate UN authorization for the U.S. to intervene again, or South Korea unilaterally deciding to give up the deterrence of having U.S. troops present.