介绍： For the US, it’s an all-or-nothing approach to getting rid of North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Though President Trump had signaled flexibility ahead of this summit last month with Kim Jong-un, the top US negotiator for North Korea is now sending a tougher message. We’re not going to do denuclearization incre...

介绍： For the US, it’s an all-or-nothing approach to getting rid of North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Though President Trump had signaled flexibility ahead of this summit last month with Kim Jong-un, the top US negotiator for North Korea is now sending a tougher message. We’re not going to do denuclearization incrementally. The president has been clear on that, and that is a position around which the US government has complete unity.
Kim has said he’s willing to begin dismantling parts of his nuclear program in exchange for the US taking corresponding measures. In particular, Kim wants sanctions relief. North Korea appears to be backing up that demand with a threat of more missile tests.
Commercial satellite images suggest North Korea has rebuilt part of a satellite launching station, an increased activity at a site used to assemble ballistic missiles and rockets. It’s their anger at the summit not ending well, but it’s also ratcheting up pressure for future negotiation. This is their traditional negotiating posture, you know, turn up the heat, shoot a missile. The big question is how Washington would respond to a North Korean missile test. I would be very very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I don’t think I will be but we’ll see what happens. The current deadlock is a major test of whether the Trump-Kim relationship can help revive the faltering nuclear negotiations.