The Xi-Kim Summit and Kim Jong Un's Gambit
Daniel Russel on CNN
On March 28, 2018, a day after it was revealed that the Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met during a secret summit in Beijing, ASPI Diplomat in Residence and Senior Fellow Daniel Russel gave his take on the Xi-Kim summit in a conversation with Kristie Lu Stout on CNN.
During the meeting with Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un repeated his commitment to ultimate denuclearization, which was previously conveyed to the South Koreans earlier this year. While this is not the first time a North Korean leader has declared interest in denuclearization, Russel points out that “this is something that up until now Kim Jong Un wouldn’t even utter out loud.” Russel adds, “I don’t want to overvalue it, but it’s not nothing.”
Russel expresses concern about North Korea’s success in dividing the five countries formerly part of the Six-Party-Talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea, saying that “it’s a standard gambit for North Korea to try to undermine solidarity (and) undermine the unity of the international community.”
With a possible upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, Russel warns that “the North Koreans are very sophisticated, very experienced and very determined negotiators” who will use their leverage in exchange for concessions “that the world can’t afford to grant them.” (4 min., 49 sec.)