Draws a Line Against Concerns Over 'Abandoning Denuclearization'
U.S. President Donald Trump will pursue North Korea's 'complete denuclearization' just as he did during his first term in office, the White House announced on the 28th (local time).
Brian Hughes, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council (NSC), stated in response to a query from Yonhap News Agency, "President Trump will pursue the complete denuclearization of North Korea just as he did during his first term."
Spokesperson Hughes emphasized, "President Trump had a good relationship with Kim Jong-un (Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea). He combined toughness and diplomacy to create the first-ever commitment to complete denuclearization at the summit level between North Korea and the U.S."
This is understood as a reminder of the fact that the joint statement from the first North Korea-U.S. summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim held in Singapore in June 2018 included the sentence, "Reaffirming the Panmunjom Declaration (between South and North Korean leaders) of April 27, 2018, North Korea commits to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
On the first day of his second term on the 20th, President Trump referred to North Korea as a "nuclear power." Then, in an interview with Fox News aired on the 23rd, he called Chairman Kim a "smart guy" and expressed his intention to resume North Korea-U.S. summit diplomacy by saying he would contact him again.
Some speculate that rather than insisting on the principle of "denuclearization of North Korea" or "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," which he upheld during his first term to bring Chairman Kim, who outright rejects denuclearization, to the negotiating table, President Trump may pursue a "small deal" such as nuclear arms reduction negotiations that address only part of North Korea's nuclear capabilities.
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