North Korea canceled meeting with VP Mike Pence at the Olympics.

Mike and Karen Pence. AP. 

North Korea canceled a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence at the last minute at the Olympics. AP. Pence went to the Olympics and was anticipated to meet the North Koreans but the meeting did not happen. White House officials said that they did not request a meeting but were open to having one. Pence said his message to the North Koreans would have been that they need to give up their nuclear and ballistic missile programs. If the meeting had happened it would have been the highest level meeting between the two countries in years. North Korea has come under major pressure from the Trump administration and Pence went as far as to bring slain American tourist Otto Warmbier's father, Fred, to the Olympics. High ranking members of North Korea were in attendance as well, including Kim Yong Nam and Kim Yo Jong. 

My Comment:

Well, it's good to see that America hasn't completely given up on diplomacy. Any attempt at diplomacy is a good sign even if that failed. Even though our positions are in conflict there could be progress being made if we could talk things out. 

Unfortunately the North Koreans didn't want to play ball. They had a chance here to have their views heard and they let it go. Bad move on their part as it makes them look very unreasonable. Even though they were on a propaganda blitz with Kim Yo Jong becoming a western media darling, they are still losing out here. 

So why skip this meeting for the North Koreans? My guess is that it was a power play. They are sending a message to America. We won't compromise and we are in a position of power. The first thing is true but the second? Not so much. Still, appearances matter more than reality and in their minds this makes them look strong. 

They also might have felt that they didn't have much of a chance to change Pence's mind. It was very clear that Pence was going to use this as a chance to lecture the North Koreans and demand that they end their nuclear and ballistic weapons program. The presence of Fred Warmbier was also a major slap in the face as that situation was likely embarrassing for the North Koreans. The entire world knows that they killed Otto Warmbier and they were very loudly reminded of that fact when Fred Warmbier was in South Korea. 

The North Koreans obviously don't want to give up their weapons. Doing so would be a huge hit for them in terms of prestige and domestic power. Even taking the meeting would be a loss of face. If Kim Jong Un wants to stay in power he needs to project an image of power and strength and skipping this meeting supposedly helps that goal.  

With that being said though, Kim Jong Un made a mistake. A huge diplomatic offer like this shouldn't be ignored. Even if Pence spent the whole meeting berating the North Koreans and making fun of Kim Jong Un, it would help avoid a war. That's not a smart move as far as I am concerned. 

Plus, we don't know for sure that Pence didn't have something to offer in return. My guess is that even though our public position is that there isn't any compromise to be had, I am guessing that we could have offered concessions in return for giving up the nuclear and ballistic missile programs. But now, the North Koreans won't know what those offers are. 

As for the Olympics, I don't know how much the North Korean's accomplished. I think they got some propaganda value out of participating in the joint team, and the profile of Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, went up massively, but other than that they haven't moved any closer to not being a pariah state. That's probably a failure on their part.