The big question for this week
is, “Are we watching history being
made, or are we being taken for fools?” In other words, will we actually see
the end of the seven-decade long Korean War or not? We do not know if North
Korea truly wants peace or is just making everyone look like fools. Time alone
will give us this answer.
On April 27, 2018, the heads of
state from North Korea and South Korea took a historic step towards peace when
they issued a joint peace declaration. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and
South Korean leader Moon Jae-in met in the demilitarized zone and each stepped
into the other’s country. The joint statement declares that the leaders are
ushering in a “new era of peace” that families will be unified and that the
peninsula will be free of nuclear weapons and hostile acts. Peace in Korea is
long overdue.
War took place in Korea from 1950
until 1953. Even though there was an armistice to end the fighting, the war has
never formally ended. The meeting between the two Korean leaders is truly a
historical moment. This is the first time in seventy years that a North Korean
leader has stepped into South Korea – or vice versa.
Several national voices are calling
for Americans to slow-walk the developments. Glenn Beck is calling for caution
as he reminds us that North Korea played us for fools once before.
Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union,
North Korea has held our attention by dangling its nuclear program like a worm
on a hook. It even tempted President Clinton in the same way President Trump is
being tempted now. Clinton gave in, dropping sanctions and providing
humanitarian aid. He even sent Madeline Albright to meet with Kim Jong-Il in
the same way Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong-un.
Those negotiations ultimately failed
when it was found out that North Korea was continuing their nuclear program in
secret. But in the end, they got what they wanted. Clinton dropped sanctions
and gave relief. Their nuclear program continued.
North Korea has promised a lot of things
lately, but all that is moot until we hear what they want in return. Nothing is
free, and I fear that they’re going to ask for more than we’re willing to give.
Never forget, North Korea is STILL North Korea. They haven’t changed. They’re
still murdering their own people, and more recently Otto Warmbier, from within
concentration camps.
Two things are about to happen. Either
history will be made, OR the entire world is being set up to be duped – AGAIN –
the same way North Korea has been manipulating the world and surviving for the
last 70 years. Let’s pray that it’s the former.
Beck obviously does not trust North
Korea because of events in the past. Is Trump smarter than Clinton? Beck is not
the only one calling for caution. Eli Lake at Bloomberg is also cautioning us
to “Beware of the Korean Peace Trap.” He says that
everything looks rosy on the surface but declaration needs to be studied
intently. He explains why the “Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and
Unification of the Korean Peninsula” is concerning to him.
Let’s start with the issue most
important to America and North Korea’s neighbors, the nuclear file. The joint
communique says, “South and North Korea confirmed the common goal of realizing,
through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.” It also
says the two states “shared the view that the measures being initiated by North
Korea are very meaningful and crucial for the denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula and agreed to carry out their respective roles and responsibilities
in this regard.” Finally it pledged that both would seek help and cooperation
from the international community to achieve the goal of denuclearization.
That sounds pretty good, but it isn’t.
North Koreans have historically used the phrase “denuclearization” to mean the
U.S. should no longer extend its nuclear umbrella to protect South Korea. As
former senior State Department official Evans Revere explained in a recent
policy brief for the Brookings Institution, North Korean interlocutors have
explained the concept in talks to U.S. officials and experts as “the
elimination of the `threat’ posed by the U.S.-South Korea alliance, by U.S.
troops on the Korean Peninsula, and by the U.S. nuclear umbrella that defends
South Korea and Japan.”
Revere goes on to say that in return for
those steps that would undermine the U.S.-South Korean alliance, North Koreans
have offered to “`consider denuclearization in 10-20 years’ time if Pyongyang
feels `secure.’” Maybe they mean something different this time around. But it’s
a red flag that Kim is agreeing to the same phrase that in past discussions has
meant something very different than verifiable disarmament….
Lake continues by explaining why he
considers some of the language in the agreement to be “strange.” The statement
says that both leaders consider a recent announcement by Kim to be `very
meaningful and crucial for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.’ He
says, “It isn’t.” Lake says that another big problem is “a sickening parity in
the statement that equates a vibrant democratic republic with a totalitarian
slave state.” He says that it is “dangerous to pretend” that they are equal
when there “is only one political party in North Korea and no civil
organizations.” He is also troubled by South Korea’s agreement to “stop
allowing its citizens to send leaflets over the border to break North Korea’s
information monopoly over its citizens.” Lake also warns President Trump to “be
careful about next steps.”
He needs to make sure South Korea will
not seek a separate peace with its rival. He also needs to get a better sense
of the real steps Kim will take to disarm. Until then, Trump should slow the
diplomacy down and wait. Kim has shown he is adept at getting optimistic
headlines. That is a testament to his connivance, not his intentions.
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