Missing from the latest on how to deal with North Korea is President Trump's radical suggestion that he meet with Chairman Kim (Bloomberg -Trump Says He’d Meet With Kim Jeong Eun Under Right Circumstances). Perhaps, it was lost in the blizzard of Trumpian pronouncements.
But not lost to Bill Overholt of the Harvard Asia Center. In my conversation with him, he told me...
Crucially, President Trump has indicated a willingness to meet with Kim Jeong Eun.
We have only been able to move forward on serious deals with North Korea when American envoys have been top level. The North Koreans react very badly to having these life and death issues dealt with at the Assistant Secretary of State level.
Ultimately, any deal that's going to work has to be sealed at the presidential level.
Although President Trump did not specify the conditions for a meeting, Bill believes that...
What President Trump has done is to signal we are willing to move away from this formula that the North Koreans have to give up everything in their nuclear program before negotiations - only then we'll talk with them. I admire our U.S. negotiators, but that formula is simply absurd.
Why absurd? Because...
North Korea is like an animal injured, trapped in the corner.You threaten a little animal more, it's just going to bite you more - because that's all it knows how to do. The nuclear program is their only theory of having any security.
