Trump’s Mostly Meaningless Summit With Kim
There was too much show and not enough substance — and the U.S. is running out of time to win concessions.
All smiles, but not much else.
Photographer: Kevin Lim/The Straits Times/Getty Images
The world can be glad of one thing after U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un: They’re still talking. But that, by itself, does little to reduce the North Korean threat.
The joint statement issued in Singapore was vague. Kim didn’t confirm and extend a moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles; he didn’t say he’d detail his arsenals or open them to inspection. The promise “to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” is meaningless: North Korea has consistently used that formulation to suggest it might give up its nukes one day — so long as the U.S. does as well.