U.S.President Donald Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but the decision points to a certain weakness on the North Korean side.
While it also credits Trump for his riding rough against Kim and for getting the attention of the North Korean leader, we believe there are rocks unturned.
The Trump-Kim meeting has end-game strategies on both sides.
But for Kim, there is a sure attempt to split wide open the real weaknesses of the Trump administration.
This is an American leadership that has shown little prowess in foreign policing, and the North Korean rock is indeed a tougher test.
For Trump to readily say ‘yes’ to Kim’s wishes to meet-up, there must be a thing or two the U.S. is in a hurry to settle.
If the Americans see the meeting as the start of a North Korean capitulation, they may be sorely wrong.
Overall, we see it as an attempt by China, the main backer of the Koreans, at diffusing the biggest war threat in the peninsula.
The meeting will surely bring a freeze of activities by the Northern Koreans. But agreeing on a nuclear dismantling programme may take years to materialise.
And there are no guarantees the North will not secretly continue to work on its program while negotiating with the Yankees.
On the other hand, the Americans may want more than a denuclearised Pyongyang.
John Bolton, the new security advisor to the White House is now a new addition to the equation.
He is known for his tough stance with a fistful of fury against U.S. opponents.
But North Korea seems a small fry for Bolton.
Bolton is set to negotiate the complete surrender of the Kim regime on the nuclear issue and perhaps on more than the bombs and missiles.
However, the problem is more intricate than it seems.
For a starter, the North Koreans may compromise on a certain number of issues.
They may agree to U.S./U.N. observers in the country in exchange for reducing or lifting of travel sanctions against Korean leaders.
They may also want to have Kim to visit the White House. For that to happen, travel sanctions may be lifted.
And for the tiny communist state, it will be like winning the soccer world cup against the giant USA.
Kim may also turn any foreign presence on the North Korean soil into a propaganda feat.
The propaganda machine will definitely brainwash the people, telling them, perhaps they are in North Korea as a sign of recognition of his regime.
Nevertheless, an invitation for a visit to the White House will resonate across North Korea as a victory for Kim and country!
Counting and locating the war-heads does not mean an automatic removal from North Korea.
The Koreans have already said it: They have a dozen or less of the nukes and that makes them the lesser of all evils.
Then there will be the process of the destruction of the nuke warheads.
But only God knows how many more warheads there are and how many of these would have been moved out of the country.