By reaffirming
the Panmunjom Declaration, the US President has committed to bringing its
military back from South Korea and thus a complete denuclearization of
the South as well as the North...
The Trump-Kim
geopolitical reality-TV show – surreal for some – offered unparalleled entries
to the annals of international diplomacy. It will be tough to
upstage the US President pulling an iPad and showing Kim Jong-un the cheesy
trailer of a straight-to-video 1980s B-grade action movie –
complete with a Sylvester Stallone cameo – casting the two leaders as heroes
destined to save the world’s 7 billion people.
Away
from the TV, the former “Rocket Man”, now respectfully recast in Trump
terminology as “Chairman Kim”, did strike a formidable coup by completely erasing
the dreaded acronym CVID – or “complete, verifiable, irreversible
denuclearization” – from the final text of the Singapore joint statement.
Throughout
the pre-summit negotiations, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)
had always stressed an “action-for-action” strategy leading to
denuclearization, as in Pyongyang being compensated every step of the way
instead of waiting until after complete denuclearization – a process that could
last over a decade – to be eligible for economic benefits.
The
Singapore joint statement enshrines exactly what the Russia-China strategic partnership –
formalized in the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit – was
suggesting from the beginning: a double
freeze.
The
DPRK holds off on any new nuclear and missile tests while the US and South
Korea stop the “war games” (Trump’s terminology).
This
logical sequence of the Sino-Russian roadmap is based on what South Korean
President Moon Jae-in agreed with Kim Jong-un at the inter-Korean summit last
April. And that ties in with what North Korea, South Korea and Russia had
already discussed at the Far East summit in Vladivostok last September, as Asia
Times reported; economic integration between Russia and the
two Koreas, including the crucial connectivity of a future Trans-Korean railway
with the Trans-Siberian.
Once
again, this is all about Eurasia integration; increased trade between North
Korea and Northeast China, concerning mostly Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang
provinces; and total, physical connectivity of both Koreas to the Eurasian
heartland.
That’s
yet another instance of the New Silk Roads, or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
meeting the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU). And not by accident South Korea
wants to connect deeper with both BRI and the EAEU.
When in
doubt, re-read Panmunjom
The
Singapore joint statement is not a deal; it’s a statement.
The
absolutely key item is number 3: “Reaffirming the April 27, 2018, Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to
work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
This
means that the US and North Korea will work towards denuclearization
not only in what concerns the DPRK but the whole Korean Peninsula.
Much
more than “…the DPRK commits to work toward the complete denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula”, the keywords are in
fact “reaffirming the April 27, 2018, Panmunjom
Declaration…”
Even
before Singapore, everyone knew the DPRK would not “de-nuke” (Trump
terminology) for nothing, especially when promised just some vague US
“guarantees”.
Predictably,
both US neocon and humanitarian imperialist factions are unanimous in their
fury, blasting the absence of “meat” in the joint statement. In
fact there’s plenty of meat. Singapore reaffirms the Panmunjom
Declaration, which is a deal between North Korea and South Korea.
By
signing the Singapore joint statement, Washington has been put on notice of the
Panmunjom Declaration. In law, when you take notice of a fact, you can’t
ignore it later. The DPRK’s commitment to denuclearize in the Singapore
statement is a reaffirmation of its commitment to denuclearize in the Panmunjom
Declaration, with all of the conditions attached to it. And Trump acknowledged
that by signing the Singapore statement.
The
Panmunjom Declaration stresses that:
“South and
North Korea confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete
denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. South and North Korea shared
the view that the measures being initiated by North Korea are very meaningful
and crucial for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and agreed to
carry out their respective roles and responsibilities in this regard. South and
North Korea agreed to actively seek the support and cooperation of the
international community for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
That’s
the commitment. “International community”, as everyone knows, is code for the
US as The Great Decider. If Washington does not bring back
its military from South Korea, there will be no
denuclearization. Essentially, that’s the deal discussed between Kim and
President Xi Jinping in their two crucial, pre-Singapore meetings. Get the
US out of the peninsula, and we have your back.
So all
focus should be on “reaffirming”, the key word in the Singapore joint
statement.
