Don’t Over-Hype the Trump-Kim Summit

Posted: April 1st, 2018

By Thomas Cynkin

Dr. Thomas Cynkin is Vice President at the Daniel Morgan Graduate School, and Adjunct Professor of Economics at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Cynkin previously headed the Washington Office of Fujitsu Ltd. as Vice President and General Manager. A former Foreign Service Officer, he served seven years as a Japanese-speaking diplomat in Japan, and was the Asian affairs advisor to two Deputy Secretaries of State and two US Ambassadors to the UN.

Public reactions to prospects for a breakthrough at a Trump-Kim summit are proving a triumph of hope over experience. North Korea has been feeling the heat from the Trump administration’s effective “maximum pressure” campaign, and has every incentive to gut its momentum, or reverse it.

In response, Kim Jong Un has been playing a weak hand well with his charm offensive. His Olympic diplomacy greatly relieved South Korean officials fearful of North Korean efforts to disrupt the games, leading almost to a sense of euphoria in Seoul. (They even picked up the tab for their North Korean visitors’ hotel bills and incidentals, to the tune of around $2.7 million.)

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