Legimitizing North Korea potentially buys them more time to nuclearize.

This has been their foreign policy playbook for the past few decades: engage in diplomacy, gain some legitimacy on the world stage, pull back, rinse and repeat.

Having met with the US and placing their flag alongside ours, the perception is that North Korea could be changing for better. It may be true, but historically speaking, it's probably not, and it buys them some time of fraudulent credibility on their path toward nuclearization.

Depends.

If he makes the situation worse in the long run, he will get blamed.

If it gets better, he will get credit.

For now, it's too early to decide which will happen.

No really? :/

If everything you posit, actually happens, we lost two days. Big deal. Trump was still the first president to physically meet with the leader of the NK.
Try to say it. I promise nothing will happen. :/

You have it backwards. Nukes are not the end goal. The end goal is insurance that the US won't topple the regime. They strived to get nukes because it was their only way to get this insurance. Now that they have nukes, with their reactor imploding, they feel this is a very good time to push for peace. It's a win-win for pretty much all sides. Only potential loser here is Japan in my opinion.

cant wait trump copy kim jong torture camps to implement it in u.s

Was the United States really going to bomb the DPRK and risk millions of South Korean and American lives?

And if not the US, then who?

Let's not pretend that anyone seriously contemplated war on the peninsula, which really begs the question, what are you complaining about?

Here are my main points in plain terms:

1) The summit is a good opportunity for diplomacy. Trump deserves credit for making it happen.

2) No specifics of denuclearization have been released, yet Trump is celebrating denuclearization via public statements.

3) Legitimizing North Korea and lavishing Kim with praise carries risk, and I hope we get something in return. We'll have to wait and see.

I've heard a lot of people say that and I have to disagree. It's like Skinned saying that "Assad is an illegitimate ruler." The fact of the matter is that Kim is a despot of a nuclear power. Unfortunately, we have to respect the reality of that situation. If we want them to give up nuclear weapons we're going to have to give up A LOT. That includes removing every US troop from the Korean peninsula, opening up embassies in Pyongyang, turning a blind eye to their atrocities for another couple decades, etc.

imagine if NK opened up its country to foreign investment....that'd be insane.

1) Agree

2) He's gotten farther than any other President has been able to. Also, maybe he knows something we don't. One thing about him is he never puts all his cards on the table. We'll have to wait and see.

3) When he was speaking negatively of Kim on Twitter, people were going crazy saying he's going to start WWIII. Now, when Trump and Kim get along, people are going crazy saying it's "dangerous" to meet and be friendly with Kim. You can't have it both ways.

This post was edited by EA7 on Jun 14 2018 05:54am