Trump Is Only Interested in Taking Photos with Kim Jong Un
[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Former White House National Security Council (NSC) advisor John Bolton has belittled the South Korean government's efforts to drive the North Korea-US summit. He claimed that the Trump administration's North Korea denuclearization diplomacy was a creation of South Korea and that the US strategy was not properly reflected, criticizing not only the Trump administration but also the Moon Jae-in government.
According to CNN on the 18th (local time), Bolton called the entire North Korea-US diplomacy a Spanish dance called 'fandango' and defined it as a "creation of South Korea" in his forthcoming memoir. He further evaluated it as "more related to South Korea's unification agenda than a serious strategy concerning Kim Jong-un or our side."
This was both a criticism of President Trump, who dismissed Bolton for taking a hardline stance on North Korea, and a disparagement of South Korea's behind-the-scenes efforts for the North Korea-US denuclearization negotiations.
Bolton also conveyed that President Trump was desperate to hold the summit at any cost despite opposition from his aides regarding the first North Korea-US summit in June 2018.
He also described President Trump as having been "hooked" by Kim Jong-un at the June 2018 Singapore North Korea-US summit. He wrote that Chairman Kim was able to manipulate President Trump.
In an interview aired on ABC on the same day, former advisor Bolton evaluated the June meeting at Panmunjom with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un last year as being focused on photo opportunities.
Bolton said, "He was so focused on re-election that there was no progress in long-term considerations," citing the June 2019 meeting with Chairman Kim at Panmunjom as an example. He added, "I do not believe President Trump is fit for the office. I do not believe he has the capability to perform the job."
The North Korea-US summit meeting at Panmunjom was arranged following the breakdown of the second Hanoi North Korea-US summit in February last year, during a stalemate in North Korea-US relations, through a tweet proposal by President Trump. President Moon Jae-in also accompanied the meeting. Bolton was excluded from the meeting. It has been analyzed that President Trump excluded Bolton, whom North Korea found troublesome, to facilitate the meeting.
Bolton criticized, "If President Trump thinks he can get a chance to take photos with Kim Jong-un in South Korea's Demilitarized Zone, he places significant emphasis on the photo shoot and the media reaction to it," adding, "He has little or no interest in how such a meeting affects the US's negotiating position."
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