My take on the meeting between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea.

Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Moon Jae-in. AFP/Getty. 

As you are almost certainly aware of, North Korea and South Korea's leaders, Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in, met together in South Korea yesterday and the meeting went well. Both leaders agreed to an end to the Korean War, which ended in a stalemate and not a peace treaty. They have also agreed that denuclarization is a major goal with Kim Jong Un agreeing to give up his nuclear arms. 

This is a welcome first step to actual peace. The fact that the two leaders of Korea could meet in person with Kim crossing the border is a huge sea change and is unprecedented since the war. The actual moment is going to go down in history as either the moment that ended the conflict in Korea for good... or the last attempt at diplomacy. I sincerely hope that it is the former and not the latter. Given the importance of the moment, I will post video of it below, courtesy of the Associated Press. 

So what is next? The entire world will be waiting with bated breath for Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's meeting. That meeting hasn't been announced yet but I am guessing it will be soon. If that meeting goes well than then peace is a very real possibility. If it doesn't...

I think it will go well though. The initial meeting between new Secretary of State Mike Pomepeo and the North Koreans went well. And Trump himself seems cautiously optimistic on Twitter and in various interviews. For their part it seems like America's leadership is sincere about peace. 

It also looks like North Korea is ready for peace as well. Yesterday I mentioned that their nuclear program was getting too expensive and could cause an unintentional environmental disaster as their test site collapses. They could save millions of dollars by giving up the program and make a lot more money by the reduction in sanctions and increase in trade a deal would give them. Plus, Kim Jong Un would know that his regime and his personal safety would be guaranteed for the foreseeable future. It's a deal he is going to want to take.  

There are some things that could derail the peace process. North Korea's ballistic missile technology is a threat even without nukes. As are their vast chemical and biological weapons. And we also can't forget their horrible treatment of their civilians. Anyone of those things could be major sticking points, but right now they don't seem to be getting in the way. 

If this deal happens, all the major players should probably get the Nobel Peace Prize. The four men most responsible for this deal, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Moon Jae-in of South Korea, President Trump of America and President Xi of China have done a very good job of trying to prevent a very ugly and very horrible war. I think that the Nobel committee would give Kim Jong Un the prize over Trump, given how much they loath him, but without Trump I don't know if this deal happens. It still might not, but it won't be because of lack of trying. 

This whole situation makes me happy that Trump won in 2016. I have no doubt that Hillary Clinton would have not gotten this outcome. The best case scenario with her would have been the status quo ante. More likely, regime change would have been attempted and there would have been a decent chance of a few major cities in Asia and the United States being turned into radioactive craters...

Thankfully, that nightmare scenario didn't happen. And if we luck out it won't happen in the future, at least not from North Korea. It really looks like there is a decent chance that peace will prevail. And peace is something Korea has needed for a very long time...