The United States received on Sunday between critical skepticism of the Democrats and Republican caution the unexpected meeting on the inter-Korean border between President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, at the beginning of the election campaign.
Trump and Kim found themselves today before the dividing line between the two Koreas, which have been at war for almost 70 years, in what was the first meeting between US leaders. and North Korea on the emblematic border. In addition, Trump crossed the line of military demarcation and became the first American president to step on North Korean territory.
“It is worrying that the president erratically convened a meeting without having done the previous work, it seems that it is only a matter of spectacle, it has no substance,” affirmed Julián Castro, candidate for the Democratic presidential candidacy for the 2020 elections, lamenting that the act “serves to elevate and strengthen the profile of a dictator”.
Senator Bernie Sanders, also a Democratic presidential candidate, insisted that the event should go beyond an image.
“I do not have problems with (Trump) sitting with Kim Jong-un in North Korea or any other place, what I do not want is that it’s just an opportunity to take a picture, we need real diplomacy,” remarked Sanders, wing’s representative. leftist of his party.
“Our president should not be wasting US influence with photo opportunities and exchanging love letters with a relentless dictator,” said Elizabeth Warren, a senator and also a Democratic presidential candidate.
Meanwhile, from the Republican side has remained cautious before the meeting, aimed at reviving talks on denuclearization, stalled since the failed summit in Vietnam in February, and which was described by Trump as a “legendary and historic”.
Lindsey Graham, Republican senator and one of the closest to Trump, gave the go-ahead “to try” to resume the talks but stressed that “the goal is an irreversible, verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”
While Trump’s own deputy for North Korea Joseph Yun expressed his doubts.
“I’m not sure what President Trump wants to achieve, because while all this rapprochement has taken place, there has been no decline in North Korea’s inventory of nuclear weapons or missiles,” he told CNN.
The United States is at the beginning of a marathon election campaign that will lead to the presidential elections of 2020, in which Trump will seek re-election.
The president has several fronts open in foreign policy, with military tensions with Iran and trade with China in the foreground, to which is added uncertainty before the outcome of the talks with North Korea after several failed attempts.
The talks were stuck since the disagreement that both leaders showed with respect to the model to denuclearize North Korea during the February summit.
There, North Korea advocated a gradual denuclearization accompanied by the progressive lifting of sanctions, an offer that the United States considered unacceptable, stating that it will not relax sanctions as long as the regime does not eliminate its nuclear programs, missiles and chemical and biological weapons.
Since then, North Korea had hardened the tone, claiming the United States. Return to the table with a more flexible posture, and even conducted two missile tests.
Although it was completed with little time, when Trump was in Japan for the G20 summit, the meeting with Kim materialized in an informal meeting, which was again supported by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a key figure to mediate in the process of denuclearization.
“I’m glad to see you again, I never expected to see you in this place,” Kim said shortly after shaking hands with Trump, acknowledging the surprise of the appointment.
“I was on the soil of North Korea, an important declaration for all, and a great honor!” Trump said for his part.
In the air was the proposal of the US president that Kim visit the US, something that so far has not made any leader of the North Korean regime.
