![]() ![]() When North Korean regime officials say they want to transform ties with South Korea into “ a relationship of reconciliation and cooperation,” as Kim reportedly did in March, they mean a relationship in which the United States no longer has a military presence on the Korean Peninsula.Īlthough we won’t know all of North Korea’s conditions until the May summit, press reports from a working-level meeting between Pyongyang and Washington earlier this month indicate the North Koreans want the United States to remove its “nuclear and strategic assets” from the peninsula as part of any deal, but may be more flexible when it comes to the presence of American troops there. ![]() This is because the North Koreans have consistently called for the departure of US forces from the Korean Peninsula since the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement in July 1953. Ironically, the negotiating position we know the most about going into the spring summits is that of the least transparent actor-Pyongyang. As I explain below, however, there are powerful bureaucratic constraints that suggest the main security pillars on the peninsula are unlikely to change for the foreseeable future. If the past is any indicator, North Korea will demand substantial changes to the existing US-South Korean security relationship in exchange for any concessions to its nuclear program. While other commentators have focused on the technological aspects ( testing freeze, capping limits, etc.) of a possible nuclear deal, few have asked what a “package deal” might mean for the US-South Korean military alliance and the security architecture on the peninsula in the near to medium term. ![]() Yesterday’s news that CIA Director Mike Pompeo visited North Korea earlier this month, along with next week’s scheduled meeting between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, suggests officials on all sides are moving ahead with plans for a historic summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump this summer. ![]()
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