The Singapore Summit and Its Implications - Paper Example

Introduction

Before June 12, 2018, the United States of America and South Korea had tried for the last twenty-five years to convince North Korea to abandon their nuclear weapon aspirations that had threatened the world peace. At the start of the 1990s, the U.S had attempted to bargain with North Korea, with the respective capital cities doing everything in their power to orchestrate a meeting. Similarly, Seoul pursued a move of engaging with North Korea economically, which effectively subsidized Pyongyang with aid and investment as it continued to develop their nuclear weapons. After North Korea tested their atomic bomb in 2006, the U.S sought to have it sanctioned by the UN Security Council. However, the US did not use its full capacity to impose those sanctions after being urged by South Korea, and in fear to anger China. Ever since the World's superpower dedicated its power to indulge in a conversational bid to induce North Korean to open up to the outside world to disengage in their nuclear missile programs.

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With the failed sanctions by the US and the UN Security Council, North Korea possessed the power to hit South Korea, Japan, and China as well. Soon after, it developed the power to hit continental America too, raising concerns from diplomatic leaders to hasten the discussion to solidify peace amongst the two nations (Allen & McAleer, 2018). After long waiting, President Donald Trump of the U.S and Kim Jong-un of North Korea agreed to formally meet to discuss the eventuality of the nuclear program in Singapore, which was dubbed the Singapore Summit. This study, therefore, seeks to argue that the Singapore Summit was a negative to the U.S foreign policy, as opposed to some who think that it was of paramount importance to the nation.

It is clear for every global leader that North Korea is undoubtedly the nuclear superpower and there is no going back. There was an indication that president Trump gave too much away and received too little in the Singapore Summit with Kim (Cha & Terry, 2018). In this regard, Kim Jong-un got what he wanted from the Summit: the international recognition and prestige to be the first North Korean leader to meet with a United States president, a feat that his father and grandfather could not achieve. The statements of president Trump on the suspension of US joint military exercise and withdrawing his troops as a result of the Summit have greatly raised concerns from allies South Korea and Japan (Cha & Terry, 2018). These allies must also have questioned other verbal commitments made to Kim without informing them, which has a negative impact on the foreign policy of the U.S. All these were bonus victories by Kim, while the North Korean press did not waste time in publishing these concessions.

The only thing that President Trump got from the summit is a verbal agreement from Kim to destroy a missile testing site, and worse still, it was not included in the signed summit statement. Trump had already criticized the past administrations for not engaging in talks with the North Korean government, but the outcome of the Singapore Summit appeared to have little or no improvement (Cha & Terry, 2018). His administration now faces strenuous and daunting negotiations in the coming months to supersede the nuances that come with a complete denuclearization and the verifications process that comes with it. Kim will now look to bolster his momentum by holding meetings with Russian president Vladimir Putin, as well as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. His arrival on a Chinese airplane is also the symbolism of Beijing's deep interest in developing the Korean Peninsula (Carney, 2018). China's next move is fundamental and should be watched closely, including its economic resolve.

The Singapore Summit signaled one step forward and two steps backward towards denuclearization efforts in a number of ways. North Korea emerged victorious at the expense of the United States in the summit since the declaration signed did not have schedules and timelines, or even plans whatsoever for inspecting the North Korean nuclear facilities (Carney, 2018). In perspective, president Trump created a shaky and weak foundation for his diplomats for which to build upon; and in the process, dismantling the joint U.S-South military exercises. Consequently, he cast doubt on the future of the country's presence in East Asia and thereby gratuitously complimenting his North Korean counterpart (Haenle et al., 2018). The U.S Secretary of State has a difficult and an unenviable task of reassuring the U.S allies, more importantly, Japan, maintenance of support for maximum pressure and continue their zeal of stopping nuclear concession from an apparently intransigent North Korea (Carney, 2018). Furthermore, South Korean administration through the tutelage of Moon Jae-in already embraced the outcome of the Singapore Summit, and could probably accelerate the plans to advance the inter-Korean engagement (Haenle et al., 2018). It is only fitting to assert that these advancements are reinforcing for the Kim Jong-un juggernaut to keep his nuclear weapon program and look forward to future summits as well. All these scenarios signify that the Singapore Summit did not present the best scenario for the Donald Trump administration, and it had more negatives for him than for North Korean leader.

Lastly, although President Trump made a mark in the talks, as expected, there were no major breakthroughs on the denuclearization. This is hugely so because of North Korea's mistrust of the United States and the West in general, and that any expectations of a more radical deal with Kim would be unrealistic (Haenle et al., 2018). It is worth noting that although his negotiation strategy was not prompted by any methodology or a coherent goal, President Trump made the right decisions. He was willing to explore the possibility of gradually altering the political engagement between the two countries, as well as making efforts to help North Korea transform from an isolated pariah state to be more open and normal, despite its hesitation over immediate denuclearization. These efforts can help source the root cause of the nuclear crisis and other security concerns on the Asian peninsula.

Conclusion

The Singapore Summit will no doubt go down as one of the major political events on the global peace endeavors, due to the significance it had to both the U.S administration and North Korean government. Many thought that the summit will be a fitting platform for denuclearization program, but it did not turn out to be the case, yet. President Trump received too little compared to what he gave away, and there was no signed agreement between the two leaders. At the end of the day, Kim was the more satisfied of the two leaders, and given the discussion of this article, it is clear that the summit did not benefit the U.S foreign policy at all.

References

Allen, D., & McAleer, M. (2018). President Trump tweets supreme leader Kim Jong-Un on nuclear weapons: A comparison with climate change. Sustainability, 10(7), 2310. doi: 10.3390/su10072310

Carney, M. (2018). China is a clear winner from the Singapore summit with Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. ABC NEWS. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-13/trump-kim-summit-provides-challenges-and-opportunities-for-asia/9862214

Cha, V., & Mi Terry, S. (2018). Assessment of the Singapore Summit. Retrieved from https://www.csis.org/analysis/assessment-singapore-summit

Haenle et al. (2018). Foreign policy experts on the Singapore Summit and what comes next. Retrieved from https://carnegietsinghua.org/2018/06/14/foreign-policy-experts-on-singapore-summit-and-what-comes-next-pub-76612