Let's put a hold on that Peace Prize nomination..

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_MeDotOrg
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Let's put a hold on that Peace Prize nomination..

Post by _MeDotOrg »

From NBC News

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies believe that North Korea has increased its production of fuel for nuclear weapons at multiple secret sites in recent months — and that Kim Jong Un may try to hide those facilities as he seeks more concessions in nuclear talks with the Trump administration, U.S. officials told NBC News.

The intelligence assessment, which has not previously been reported, seems to counter the sentiments expressed by President Donald Trump, who tweeted after his historic June 12 summit with Kim that "there was no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea."

Analysts at the CIA and other intelligence agencies don't see it that way, according to more than a dozen American officials who are familiar with their assessments and spoke on the condition of anonymity. They see a regime positioning itself to extract every concession it can from the Trump administration — while clinging to nuclear weapons it believes are essential to survival.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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_Chap
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Re: Let's put a hold on that Peace Prize nomination..

Post by _Chap »

Yup.

What did we expect from Trump? Some solid achievement of the kind that requires careful thought and preparation? Or a lot of hot air followed by triumphant tweets?

Despite what Trump told a rally of his supporters ...

North Korea repatriated the remains of 200 U.S. soldiers missing from the Korean War on Wednesday, according to President Trump, a week after the issue was raised at a landmark summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“We got back our great fallen heroes, the remains sent back today, already 200 got sent back,” Trump told a rally in Duluth, Minnesota Wednesday, according to Reuters.


... it seems that no remains have been repatriated yet. Nor is there (see below) any announced date for Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang to 'put meat on the bones' (unfortunate choice of phrasing in the circumstances.

Trump gave Kim the huge bonus of equal treatment with the leader of the world's most powerful country, plus cancellation of the joint exercises with South Korean forces - which Trump characterised, in the words long used by North Korea, as 'provocative'.

So, can someone remind us what he got in return? Anybody?

And what do we expect him to give up when he meets Putin? The US has a president whose vanity and ignorance make him putty in the hands of any experienced and ruthless dictator. Not good.


Report cites ‘unequivocal evidence they are trying to deceive the US’ in blow to Donald Trump

North Korea has increased its production of enriched uranium for nuclear weapons at secret sites in recent months, contrary to Donald Trump’s claims that it was “no longer a nuclear threat”, according to a new report.

NBC News quoted more than a dozen US officials familiar with the intelligence assessments. Coming soon after satellite images showed rapid improvements being made to a North Korean nuclear research facility at Yongbyon, the developments will make it harder for Trump to claim that his summit with Kim Jong-un in Singapore this month was a success.

Neither of the concessions the US president claimed Kim had delivered – the destruction of a missile engine testing site, and the repatriation of the remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean war – has materialised so far.

Meanwhile Trump has already made a significant US concession: suspending joint exercises with South Korea that had been due to start in August.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, is reported to be planning a trip to Pyongyang in early July to continue negotiations with the North Korean government, in the hope of persuading the regime to make specific commitments on nuclear disarmament.

Over the past seven months the North Koreans have conducted no new missile or nuclear tests. But NBC quoted a US official briefed on the latest intelligence as saying that uranium enrichment had been stepped up.

“There’s no evidence that they are decreasing stockpiles, or that they have stopped their production,” the official said. “There is absolutely unequivocal evidence that they are trying to deceive the US.”

It has long been suspected that the North Koreans have established a uranium enrichment plant in at least one secret site apart from Yongbyon complex.

“There are lots of things that we know that North Korea has tried to hide from us for a long time,” a US intelligence official told NBC.

The joint statement signed by Trump and Kim in Singapore was vaguely worded. Kim promised “complete denuclearisation” but that has been Pyongyang’s theoretical policy since 1992, and the regime interprets it to mean a long-term mutual process in which the US would also disarm.

Pompeo was due to start follow-on negotiations with the North Korean leadership within a week of the 12 June Singapore summit. But Pyongyang appears to have dragged its heels. The secretary of state is now hoping to visit Pyongyang during a trip to the far east in the second week of July, as first reported by the Financial Times.

“There was a delay but I think he has now got the agreement to go,” said Victor Cha, a former director of Asian affairs at the National Security Council.

“They have to put meat on the bones of the Singapore statement. Pompeo is under pressure to get something before August, when the exercises were going to start,” said Cha, now at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

It the visit goes ahead it is possible Kim would order the repatriation of the remains of between 100 and 200 US service personnel killed in the 1950-53 war, to coincide with Pompeo’s arrival. It is a gesture that US officials had been predicting would take place last week. Trump told a rally in Minnesota last week that the repatriation had already happened.

“Pompeo needs to get the remains of the POWs and MIAs [missing in action] but it’s not enough,” Cha said, arguing the secretary of state would have to extract a concrete commitment on disarmament to live up to the administration’s claims for the Singapore summit.
Zadok:
I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis.
Maksutov:
That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
_Chap
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Re: Let's put a hold on that Peace Prize nomination..

Post by _Chap »

Oh dear.

Another disappointment ...

North Korea fails to attend talks on repatriation of US war dead

ETA: STOP PRESS!!!!!


Trump touts 'great progress' after North Korea skips repatriation of war dead talks
President tweeted ‘a very nice note’ from North Korean leader just hours after officials failed to show up at the planned meeting.


But despite these triumphs, what do we see?

"... growing doubts among President Trump's critics about whether the Singapore summit was a success or simply a publicity stunt for Mr Kim ...."

Gracious me, how can people sink so low? Have they no faith?

North Korean officials have failed to turn up for talks with a US team on the repatriation of the remains of American soldiers killed in the Korean war. Returning the remains was a commitment from the 12 June summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump in Singapore. The talks had been expected in the demilitarised zone on Thursday. Reports say North Korea is now asking for higher-level talks for Sunday. An estimated 30,000 US soldiers died in the 1950-53 Korean war. There are about 7,700 US soldiers classified as missing in action from the war.

...

Mr Kim had agreed during the summit with President Trump to recover "POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified". The agreement reportedly covered the remains of some 200 American soldiers. The US military has since announced that 100 wooden coffins have been moved to the inter-Korean border in preparation. But North Korea's delegation failed show up. Pyongyang has asked the UN Command Armistice Commission to upgrade the talks to a higher level to include a US general, South Korea's foreign ministry said. North Korea proposed to reschedule the meeting for Sunday.

An estimated 30,000 US soldiers died in the 1950-53 Korean war

The fact that North Korea seem to be dragging its feet on this issue fuels already growing doubts among President Trump's critics about whether the Singapore summit was a success or simply a publicity stunt for Mr Kim, the BBC's Cindy Sui in Seoul reports. There is speculation that North Korea may also want payment for the return of the remains, our correspondent adds. Between 1996 and 2005, some 33 recovery operations were conducted in North Korea which saw 200 sets of remains returned. However, recovery efforts were suspended when the relationship between both countries worsened, as the North began the advancement of its nuclear programme.
Zadok:
I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis.
Maksutov:
That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
_Doctor Steuss
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Re: Let's put a hold on that Peace Prize nomination..

Post by _Doctor Steuss »

You guys are just sour that you aren't the best at deals.

ETA:
Chap wrote:Oh dear.

Another disappointment ...

North Korea fails to attend talks on repatriation of US war dead

I can only imagine how bummed the thousands of supercentenarians, that President Trump said were calling him, are going to be.
"Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead." ~Charles Bukowski
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