Less for Less With North Korea
James Acton
Following North Korea’s announcement of a moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, a summit between Kim Jong Un, and President Donald Trump now looks likely to take place. If it does, it’s also likely that the two leaders will agree on a joint statement that each will claim represents a historic victory. The positive short-term outlook for summitry should not, however, obscure the serious long-terms risks created by the latest spate of high-stakes diplomacy.
Iran’s Foreign Minister: Renegotiating Nuclear Deal Would Damage U.S. Credibility
Scott Neuman | NPR
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tells NPR that renegotiating the 2015 nuclear deal between his country and six world powers would be opening a ‘Pandora&#rsquo;s box’ that risks damaging U.S. credibility in future international talks. In an interview airing Tuesday on Morning Edition, Zarif says he hopes that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during their successive visits to the United States this week, will "impress upon President Trump" that the international community "will be much better served if they were to respect the terms of the deal."
Trump Will Tell Kim Jong Un That Dismantling Nuclear Arsenal Must Precede Economic Benefits
Michael R. Gordon, Jonathan Cheng and Michael C. Bender | Wall Street Journal
President Donald Trump will urge North Korea to act quickly to dismantle its nuclear arsenal when he meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and isn’t willing to grant Pyongyang substantial sanctions relief in return for a freeze of its nuclear and missile tests, administration officials said. Those two closely related questions—the pace of Pyongyang’s nuclear dismantlement and the timetable for sanctions relief—stand to be the major issues of the summit.
White House Privately Skeptical of North Korea’s Plans to Freeze Nuclear Testing
David Nakamura and John Hudson | Washington Post
“The reality is that North Korea has nuclear weapons, and we have to deal with that reality,” said Toby Dalton, the co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In March, Dalton published an essay promoting a cap aimed at preventing the North from achieving “a fully-fledged, combat-ready arsenal.” “The gap between reality and what we’re planning for is problematic,” Dalton said, “as it creates expectations that can’t be met in the summit process, and we’re back to where we were.
3rd Plenary Meeting of 7th C.C., WPK Held in Presence of Kim Jong Un
KCNA Watch
The 3rd Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea took place in Pyongyang on April 20. Kim Jong Un, chairman of the WPK, guided the plenary meeting. Attending the meeting were Presidium members, members and alternate members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK and members and alternate members of the C.C., WPK and members of the Central Auditing Commission of the WPK.
Japan Gov’t Wary of Aim Behind N. Korea’s Missile Test Suspension
Mainichi
The Japanese government is scrambling to analyze the intentions behind North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s statement on April 20 over the country’s suspension of medium- and long-range missile tests. It is unlikely that the suspension covers shorter-range ballistic missiles capable of striking Japan. There are speculations that Pyongyang is aiming to drive a wedge between Japan and the United States by only referring to the suspension of missiles that are capable of hitting the U.S. as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with Washington.