Nuclear Tensions Increase After Failed Trump-Kim Summit

By N. GUNASEKARAN

President Donald Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, on February 27–28, 2019, failed to arrive at an agreement. Trump abruptly cut short his meeting with Kim.

At a press conference in Hanoi, after his discussions with Kim Jong Un, President Trump told reporters, “Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that...They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn’t give up all of the sanctions for that. ... We had to walk away from that.”

Hence it was really a failed summit, and the main reason for this failure was the intransigent attitude of the US. Following the failure of the summit, it was reported that North Korea restored part of a rocket test site it began to dismantle after the first summit last year,

Disagreeing that it was a failed summit, the US National Security Adviser John Bolton said: “I think the obligation of the president of the United States is to defend and advance American national security interests. And I think he did that by rejecting a bad deal and by trying again to persuade Kim Jong Un to take the big deal that really could make a difference for North Korea.”

What were the American national security interests? To put it simply, it was the interests of the US to establish its political, economic and military hegemony in the strategic Korean region.

The last summit between Trump and athe North Korean leader was held in June in Singapore last year. In the Singapore meeting between Kim Jong-un and President Trump, the US committed to provide security guarantees to North Korea. Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Moreover, North Korea committed for dismantling its nuclear test site and a halt to its missile rocket tests. President Trump committed for the stoppage of the annual joint military exercise by the US and South Korean armed forces. But all these commitments have not been taken up earnestly.

The US made South Korea virtually a military fortress, with 32,000 American troops posted there. While the corporate media have been blaming North Korea for breaching the past agreements, they do not mind the fact that the US had gone back on agreements.

For instance, according to the agreement of 1994, the United States was supposed to supply two light-water reactors and fuel for North Korea and North Korea agreed to stop enrichment of uranium and closing of its sole nuclear reactor. North Korea obeyed a part of the agreement by dismantling the nuclear reactor and allowed the IAEA inspectors to monitor it. But the US did not fulfill its part of the agreement and did not deliver the light water reactors and lift the sanctions on North Korea.

Prabir Purkayastha, an Indian scientist, wrote: ”In geo-strategic terms, North Korea has now reached a “deterrence stage” with its nuclear and missile program. The problem, of course, lies in this crazy theory that believes the only way to mutual peace lies through stock-piling enough weapons to destroy each other, and the rest of the world. To avoid such madness, the US has to act in a responsible manner.

Earlier, the US called North Korea a “rogue state” with a “mad” leader. But it was the US, which had engaged in invasions, regime changes, wars and military occupations over the last 70 years.

The US always has regarded North Korea as a target for regime change. Considering the fate of Saddam and Gaddafi, North Korea seemed not in a position to give up either its nuclear weapons, or its missile options. Rationale backing its actions was survival for the regime and survival for the country.

North Korea had always been under the threat of the US and South Korean invasions. The frequent military exercises by the US and South Korea with live ammunition have been threatening the rulers in North Korea. It was a historical fact that the US had always thwarted all efforts to reach a permanent peace in the Korean region.

During the 1950-53 Korean War, the US dropped more bombs on North Korea than it did in the entire Pacific arena during the Second World War. The US killed about 4-5 million Koreans during this war.

So, these lessons from the past starkly indicate that the act of imposing sanctions on North Korea and avoiding meaningful negotiations would never resolve the crisis. The talks have to be pursued not only on the issues of missiles and nuclear weapons but also on the whole of gamut of issues such as permanent peace in the Koreas.

It was widely reported that North Korea had the 5 MWe Yongbyon reactor and it was able to produce about 6 kg of plutonium every year, which was enough for two bombs. A nuclear war in the Korean region would affect not only North Korea but also South Korea and Japan and destabilize the entire Asian region. To avert this situation, the US must talk not only to North Korea, but also to China and Russia to resolve this crisis.

Trump’s nuclear doctrine is aimed at global hegemony based on a big nuclear stick which would renew nuclear arms race across the globe. In this context, there exists an urgent need for a revival of the global peace movement.

N. Gunasekaran is a political activist and writer based in Chennai, India.

From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2019

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