My Thoughts on the Trump/Kim Summit in Singapore

by Daryl Dominic Tan

Earlier today before the Trump/Kim summit at the Capella Hotel in Singapore took place, I shared my prediction of the outcome on social media:

"My prediction for the Trump/Kim summit: Kim won't agree to a CVID (Complete Verifiable Irreversible Dismantlement) due to his own interpretation & understanding of "denuclearization", there's likely to be a standstill or a compromise that gets the participants nowhere on the matter at hand (I hope I'm proven wrong on this). Either way, the whole point of the summit is symbolic - to show to the world that Kim is taking the first step to engage with the global community.

And that's a good first step irrespective of the outcome. Reagan/Gorbachev in Reykjavik in 1986 ended in a stalemate, but the very fact that a line of dialogue was opened and a relationship was established eventually led to the fall of the Berlin Wall."

A little after lunch, news reports came swarming in that the summit was momentous & successful and that "commitment towards complete denuclearization" (very vaguely worded) was agreed to by Kim Jong-Un. Trust me, I very much wanted to be wrong in my pessimistic prediction that Kim wasn't going to acquiesce to a Complete Verifiable and Irreversible Dismantlement process, and at that moment, I believed I was wrong - and happily so. As someone with paleoconservative & libertarian leanings, it would be a dream for me to see a unified Korea, or at the very least - two Koreas at peace with one another. At this stage, however, it is still too early to tell despite overly optimistic reports.

Initial reports stated how successful the Summit had been, and that an extremely significant agreement had been signed. Further assessment of the contents of the agreement, however, made me wary.

On a whole, I do agree that the Summit was successful, especially since Kim seemed to have sincerely demonstrated a willingness to engage with the world. I thought the outcome was pretty good. There wasn't a standstill in the end. However, as mentioned above, I am still slightly skeptical. A compromise that gets the participants nowhere according to my prediction above MAY have been reached, and the reason why I think so is because I'm standing by my assertion that the whole point of the Summit was symbolic with regards to a CVID. No real great strides were made in that area except for reaffirming the Panmunjom declaration Kim already signed with South Korea in April. There was no formal end to the Korean War which I was hoping for either. Neither was there any substantial talk about reducing American military presence in South Korea. Cutting down on "War Games" that Trump mentioned during the post-summit conference (by "War Games" he is referring to expensive military exercises conducted by the U.S. military on South Korean soil) was not included in the signed document, though it should have been, since Trump himself is opposed to unnecessary spending by the government. In all - it was slightly disappointing to see so many important points left out of the document that was signed at what was supposed to be an extraordinarily momentous summit. Then again, it might be unreasonable for me to expect so many points to be achieved or addressed in such a short period of time.

If Trump is right then, that one should view this as a process, and that this Summit marks the beginning of that long arduous process - especially towards healing the wounds between the Koreas, then this bodes well. What's scary is that key members in Trump's cabinet, particularly National Security Advisor, John Bolton, may hinder that process (towards greater reconciliation). Bolton, the raging Neocon that he is, is known to be a strong advocate for regime change, and thanks to him - the Summit was almost called off. What's even scarier is that Bolton isn't a stupid man at all. He probably knew that the Summit wasn't going to bring about radical changes immediately, and therefore sat idly by. If Bolton doesn't hold too much sway over Trump's foreign policy decisions in the coming months - then the Summit can be a force for something good. If not, the Summit may soon be forgotten.

Either way - the real takeaway of this summit was Kim seeking better diplomatic relations with the USA, and a willingness to engage with the outside world. Kim is a shrewd man, and he understands the importance of economic development. This is the primary agenda behind his participation in the Summit. Whichever way the denuclearization process goes, it is obvious that Kim is at least committed towards developing his country economically - and that would mean opening its borders to an extent to facilitate effective commerce which may be the catalyst for change and the start of something new for the people of North Korea. Here's to hoping that the 'Hermit Kingdom' will soon shed its moniker.