The full text of the agreement signed by Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Singapore. It is not long.
Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit.
President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a first, historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018.
President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un conducted a comprehensive, in-depth, and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new U.S.-DPRK relations and the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Convinced that the establishment of new U.S.-DPRK relations will contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and of the world, and recognizing that mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un state the following:
- The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new U.S.-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.
- The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
- Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
- The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.
Having acknowledged that the U.S.-DPRK summit – the first in history – was an epochal event of great significance and overcoming decades of tensions and hostilities between the two countries and for the opening of a new future, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un commit to implement the stipulations in this joint statement fully and expeditiously. The United States and the DPRK commit to hold follow-on negotiations led by the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and a relevant high-level DPRK official, at the earliest possible date, to implement the outcomes of the U.S.-DPRK summit.
President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have committed to cooperate for the development of new U.S.-DPRK relations and for the promotion of peace, prosperity, and security of the Korean Peninsula and of the world.
June 12, 2018
Sentosa Island
In a separate statement Trump announced that the US would suspend military exercise that they have been conducting jointly with South Korea. But conducting military exercises right on the borders of a country was always provocative and pointless. Do you really need to have ships and planes flying around to signify that the US and South Korea are allies? Do you really need to drive home the point that the US has massive military power?
Some analysts are have harshly criticized Trump for having got the worse end of the deal. But I think it seemed like a good summit. The two leaders seem to have sized each other up and arrived at some kind of working relationship, which is better than the ‘little rocket man’ and ‘dotard’ insult exchanges of the past. It is noteworthy that Trump did not indulge in any of the dominance games that he so loves to play to demonstrate that he is the most important person in the room. It showed a surprising level of maturity and restraint on his part.
What denuclearization implies was always going to be a sticking point and it was obvious that the word would be left ambiguous and the wording “work towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” is likely to be used to finesse any disagreements since “work towards” can mean anything and any time scale. Those who are criticizing the deal because it does not contain previous US demands for “complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement (CVID)” are being unrealistic. That might be a long-range goal but was never going to happen immediately.
Those who wanted Trump to bring in the issue of human rights violations seem to think that Trump cares about such things. He and previous US presidents have always used human rights as a weapon to destabilize enemies while ignoring massive violations by allies like Saudi Arabia, Israel, Indonesia, Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador, the list is long. Trump couldn’t care less about the hardships suffered by the North Korean people.
One thing I noticed is that there is no mention of lowering the level of sanctions imposed on North Korea that has contributed to its economic plight. This is something that I think Kim must have hoped for but did not get. It is likely to be part of future negotiations.
The very fact that there are going to be a lessening of tensions and ongoing discussions between the two nations is the most positive outcome.
So I think Trump can justifiably claim that it was a good summit.
They agreed to exchange opinions. Holy shit, such a diplomatic advance.
I rather have them exchanging opinions than exchanging missiles.
I see a lot of people disparaging this meeting because it hasn’t actually resolved much… How exactly do people think international diplomacy works? It’s not just a question of two leaders getting together for a quick chat and sorting everything out -- it’s a years-long process. Meetings like this just set the tone and get the ball rolling. Of course this one meeting hasn’t made a big, concrete difference, and it’s entirely unrealistic to expect that it would. This isn’t a reality TV show where everything gets wrapped up in an hour minus commercial breaks. Contra Marcus, agreeing to exchange opinions actually is an important diplomatic advance, because that is the starting point of all real diplomacy.
Mano,
Trump needed to save money somewhere to pay for his military parade next month.
Also, isn’t it amazing how low our level of expectations has sunk in 500 days?
Jeff
Yes it is noteworthy, but you don’t seem to be taking the right notes about it.
In isolation, there is nothing wrong with how Trump behaved during this summit. Put these actions in the larger context of his other behaviors, and it’s just more proof of how unfit Trump is to be President. Trump has consistently been polite to autocratic despots and rude to the heads of democratic allies.
His lack of domineering behavior is not a display of maturity. Quite the opposite. He’s nice to the leaders he likes, and his complete LACK of maturity causes his personal feelings to override any discipline that would regulate his actions in favor of results for this country. Everything is always about him and what he personally thinks of the person he is dealing with. He doesn’t give two shits about anything larger than that.
I have a hard time believing that you are actually this naive. Look up “erratic” in the dictionary and you’ll find a big picture of Trump. He has no principles other than his narcissism and is easily swayed by the people who can flatter him. Someone whispers the right sweet nothings into his ear and he’ll threaten actual war with Canada, Mexico, North Korea, and Iran all at once if he can be convinced that it will make people praise him.
It is pretty easy to find fault with any president. One from a party or background you don’t agree with even more so and an unapologetic extremist* like Trump most of all. But mostly this is just overcoming inertia. If the talks continue even if not with the two leaders, it will be more difficult for any later administration to treat North Korea like they have nation state cooties.
It also makes our press look at them more, which makes it harder for them to write the whole country off at a glance. Such simplistic notions will fade naturally even if there is no particular shift in feelings. Informed animosity is much less dangerous than an arrogant ignorance.
* Trump is not extreme in the usual ways. Its more that he’s extremely open about his willingness to skip any pretenses and attack whatever he doesn’t like.
The thing is that “talks” are not new. NK has talked with other countries loads of times, and made and broken agreements with them. The only thing new with this summit is that the US attended. And once again its shown that so many people in this fucking country think that we’re the only one that ever matters.
markdowd, @ #7: Well, the US does matter rather more than most other countries when it comes to the Korean situation, since you’re the ones with a massive military presence in South Korea.