Avoiding ‘Fire and Fury’ with North Korea

Six months after the historic June 11, 2018 Summit between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jung Un, the American public is losing patience with a North Korea that continues to make nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems.  Many now doubt that North Korea will ever completely denuclearize, as promised at the historic Summit. So, let’s look at the facts and assess whether continued negotiations will result in the complete denuclearization of North Korea.

During the past six months, there has been some progress with North Korea: There have been no nuclear tests or missile launches; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been to Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jung Un; Vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol has been to the U.S. to meet with Pompeo; a joint South Korea-North Korea Liaison Office will be established in Kaesong, North Korea; a survey to connect South-North rail lines has been approved and guard posts at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) have been dismantled by the North.  Other confidence building measures are forthcoming, to include plans for a second Trump-Kim summit in early 2019.  Cipher Brief expert, Ambassador Joseph R. DeTrani breaks it down.

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