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Trump mulls restoring diplomacy with Kim Jong Un, can 'straighten out' tensions in Korean Peninsula · INSIGHT TODAY

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: North Korea said it had test fired a nuclear capable
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: cruise missile. That's just hours before Trump arrived in South Korea.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: But the US president seems confident that he can de
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: escalate tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang. That's despite not being
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: able to set up a meeting with the North Korean
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: leader Kim Jong un the Korean peninsula. And I know
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: you are officially at war, but we will see what.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: We can do to get that all straightened. We know
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Kim jongun very.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Well, we get along very well.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: We really weren't able to work out timing.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I've given that Trump seemed keen to meet the North
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Korean leader. I asked Jenny Town from the foreign affairs
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: think tank the Stimpson Center, why a meeting didn't happen.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Well, so far, you know, the champe has indicated several
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: times that he's opened to meeting with Kim Jong i,
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: and he wants to meet with Kim Jong I, and
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Kim Jong un did make some overtures last month saying
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: that there is a possibility for diplomacy in the future,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: but really only when the time is right and when
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: the agenda is clear, and so far that agenda is
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: not clear, and the North Koreans have not been responsive
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: to Trump's overtures during this trip itself. And of course
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: there was just the test fire of a nuclear capable
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: cruise missile yesterday in the lead up and some statements
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: between North Korea and Russia really calling out US and
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: South Korea alliance as being part of the agitation in
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: the region. So this isn't the time for that diplomacy,
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: for USDPRK diplomacy to get started, but certainly there is
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: still possibility for it in the future.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: You mentioned the launch of those test missiles. What message
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: is Pyuong yang sending with that?
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: I think, you know, the this was an interesting test.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: You know, Kim jongan was not. They're at it, so
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: it doesn't have the same kind of political weights as
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: one where he would have been overseeing the test itself.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: But you know, I think it is it is a
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: signal that this is not the time for diplomacy, that
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: there is not room for there's not the agenda isn't set.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: We heard Ejmung and Donald Trump still talk about denuclearization,
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: which in North Koreans have said is off the tables.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: We also saw Trump in Japan meet with the families
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: of the abductees, which is another issue that North Korea
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: feels is already off the table. So I think, you know,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: the public messaging in terms of what the US is
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: looking for in trying to restart talks with the North
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Koreans is going to be incredibly important. And this was
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: just not the time.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Trump did once call Kim Jong on a friend. Now
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: his tone seems to be much more confrontational. Can you
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: talk to us about what is potentially behind that shift.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Well, it could be a callback to say, for instance,
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: the fire and fury era of twenty seventeen ahead of talks.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: I think there is a little bit of frustration coming
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: from the Trump administration, from Trump himself that the North
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Koreans are not being responsive and they're not being cooperative
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: and he was hoping they would be. And I think
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: some of it is also just posturing for assurances to
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: our allies, to South Korea and Japan that this is
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: a high priority issue, that he understands the concerns and
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: the security concerns there, and that it is an issue
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: that we will the US and our allies will continue
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: to work on together.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: And how will Trump shift in tone? Do you think
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: go down with North Korea. I mean, is it likely
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: to provoke North Korea.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure it will necessarily provoke North Korea, but
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: it's certainly going to push that timeline for negotiations in
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: the future further into the future. They are not necessarily
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: responsive to strong arm brinkmanship, and especially right now, when
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: they have options, and they have diplomatic options, they have
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: economic options that we've seen for instance, of course in
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: the relationship with Russia, warming relations with China. We saw
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Vietnam and Dallas some high level delegates to their recent
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: parade in Pyanyang. So you know, I think for the
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: North Koreans there's no rush here, unlike what they saw
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: is an opportunity back in twenty eighteen. So I think,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: you know, this is really just a moment where it
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: you know, when the time is right, we will know it.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: But for right now, they're just isn't the right message.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Jenny Town from the Stimpson Center.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us at