US ready to reopen negotiations with North Korea after progress is made between North and South Korea.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. AFP. 

The United States is ready to reopen negotiations with North Korea after progress was made at the meeting between North and South Korea. AFP. The set January 2021 as a goal for the nuclear disarmament of the Korean peninsula. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo invited his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minster Ri Yong Ho to meet with him next week at the UN. North Korea agreed with South Korea to shut down one of their missile testing facilities to be observed by international experts. 

My Comment:

Very good news on the North Korea front. I always expected that this would be the outcome. Whatever speedbumps were in the way North Korea was always going to make a deal. They need to avoid war and would love to have sanctions lifted. It is in their best interest to go along with the United States with this deal. 

I always felt that China was attempting to derail the peace process for unrelated issues. We are currently locked into a trade war with China and they are losing that trade war badly. The tariffs placed on China are hurting their economy while not effecting the US economy which is booming. 

China had little way to fight back economically so they did so diplomatically. One factor in this was putting pressure on North Korea to back down from their commitments. Doing so worked for awhile but I am guessing the diplomatic pressure put on North Korea from everyone else and the heavy pinch of sanctions countered this diplomatic move and allowed them to stand up to China. 

China is running out of options and are likely to buckle under the pressure. They may put more pressure on North Korea and that is one of the few things that could derail the process. China still has a large amount of economic and political leverage but that being said they have something to gain from a North Korean nuclear deal as well. Time will tell if the deal survives, but my money is on it succeeding. 

I think we will likely see more movement on the issue. North Korea has already agreed to shut down another missile site and will allow international experts to observe it being dismantled. This is a major step and a very productive one. The missile program is just as dangerous as the nuclear weapons and if they are taken away much of the threat is gone. 

I am guessing that North Korea will probably get some concessions of their own. Eventually sanctions will be lifted and in the short term they will gain prestige and credibility if they manage another meeting with President Trump. They have a lot to gain from a deal and I am guessing they will start to reap the benefits soon.