Prospects for the 'most dramatic meeting of the century' Trump - Kim Jong-un

The meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, although unlikely, is still considered to be the most dramatic event of the 21st century.

US President Donald Trump (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: AP

US President Donald Trump on April 30 unexpectedly used conciliatory words when talking about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "Obviously, he's a pretty smart guy," Trump said in an interview with CBS. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Trump even emphasized: "If the conditions allow me to meet him, of course, I would be honored to do that."

In the history of world diplomacy, such an unlikely meeting has happened several times. For example, the event of US President John Frank Kennedy meeting with Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev in Vienna, Austria, in 1961 or the event of US President Richard Nixon going to Beijing to meet with Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong in 1972.

The idea of ​​a meeting between Trump and Kim, the two most closely watched world leaders, is a far-fetched prospect and would certainly pose a logistical challenge if the two countries were to pull it off. AP writer Ted Anthony sketches out some rough outlines of the meeting.

Location

South Korean and North Korean soldiers face each other at the village of Panmunjom in the middle of the inter-Korean demilitarized zone. Photo: AP

The meeting location could be a room inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on the border between North and South Korea, with the advantage of existing security conditions there. Or a location in China could also be chosen for the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un, although the possibility of it happening is not high.

In addition, the meeting between the two US and North Korean leaders could take place in other places in the world, for example Switzerland, a country famous for its neutrality, where Mr. Kim is said to have spent most of his youth studying.

The meeting could even be held at the White House, but if it does happen, it would be controversial because simply granting Kim Jong-un a visa would be an eye-catching proposal.

Or perhaps the meeting will take place in an unexpected and little-known place. In 1989, US President George HW Bush and Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev met on a ship off the southern European island nation of Malta to discuss the changes taking place in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

The event kept the tiny island nation in the spotlight for years to come. Malta was also the site of important meetings that led to the Yalta Conference in Crimea, where US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin met in early 1945 to reorder post-World War II Europe.

The United States has also been the site of such sensitive meetings. During the administration of US President Jimmy Carter, Camp David, the naval base that doubles as a country retreat for White House chiefs in Maryland, hosted peace talks between former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

History has seen many similar meetings in the United States. In 1905, US President Theodore Roosevelt brokered a peace deal between the rival nations of Japan and Russia in an unlikely place: a New England town. In 1995, Dayton, Ohio, unexpectedly became the site of peace talks and the signing of a peace agreement to end the Bosnian War.

However, these places are places to resolve conflicts between other countries, not those of the United States itself.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il shakes hands with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at a meeting in Pyongyang in 2000. Photo: AP

Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, is also a possible location for a meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim. Pyongyang has been the site of several meetings between North Korean leaders and foreign guests, including the meeting between US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000, the meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Kim Jong-il in 2002, and a series of meetings between American basketball star Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong-un in 2013 and 2014.

On the other hand, North Korean leaders generally do not like to travel abroad because this takes them away from their realm of power and exposes them to situations over which they have little absolute control.

Discussion topics

North Korea’s nuclear disarmament is likely to be the top priority at the Trump-Kim talks. But with two unpredictable leaders like Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, no one can be sure what will be discussed, Anthony said. These could include aid to Pyongyang, efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas, or North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.

Given the way Mr Trump has been acting so far, perhaps what the two leaders need to do is build a relationship before any negotiations get underway, Anthony stressed.

Reaction from all sides

Unpredictable reactions will come from South Korea, Russia and even China, which has been a patron of North Korea for decades but has recently become anxious and frustrated with its uncontrollable neighbor.

For South Korea, such a meeting would be vital. Most agree that North Korea’s arsenal has enough precision and firepower to devastate South Korea. So a meeting between the United States, its ally, and North Korea would undoubtedly have a profound impact on South Korea even if no substantive issues were discussed.

China is deeply concerned about US interference in its sphere of influence and is at odds with the US over sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea. In recent years, Beijing has been trying to woo South Korea. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Seoul in 2014 was intended to send a warning message to North Korea.

In that context, according to conventional wisdom, any meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un would require China’s influence and pressure on North Korea. The White House has always considered this necessary.

Ultimately, Russia and President Vladimir Putin will be watching from afar with great caution. Such a meeting would have the power to alter Moscow’s relations with Beijing and Washington, and even Pyongyang.

The media reaction is also an important factor. The Trump-Kim meeting will certainly be a "hot" topic, attracting hundreds and thousands of news agencies and newspapers to report on it, thereby posing a major challenge to the infrastructure serving the event.

The most dramatic event of the 21st century

Whatever the political ramifications, any meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un anywhere in the world would be one of the most dramatic events of the 21st century, Anthony said.

The meeting simultaneously contained three important global factors: America under Donald Trump and the Trump administration's intentions, the Kim family with its strange and unpredictable way of governing the country as well as how they prove themselves to the world, and the security and defense of East Asia, one of the most strategically important regions in the world.

Writer Ted Anthony concludes that this will be a unique meeting, a bit strange but completely unexpected, reflecting the world of two unusual men who can change the entire global chessboard: Kim Jong-un and Donad Trump.

According to VNE