Analysts fear understaffed US adimin may ruin Trump-Kim summit opportunity

As an unexpected summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un appears to be on the horizon, analysts fear that Trump’s understaffed administration may lack the expertise to successfully turn the political opening into a meaningful opportunity.

In a surprise announcement on Thursday night, the White House said Trump would hold face-to-face talks with the North Korean leader over Pyongyang’s nuclear program by the end of May.

This is the first time a US president accepts an invitation from North Korea’s leader. South Korean officials said Trump almost immediately agreed to meet Kim, without preconditions.

Analyst, however, say the possible summit holds risks for the Trump administration.

“A Trump meeting with Kim presents both risks and opportunities,” said Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

“The US side needs to be very, very well prepared and know exactly what it wants to achieve, as well as what the US is willing to provide in return,” Reuters quoted her as saying.

 Suzanne DiMaggio, from the New America think tank, also warned that Washington needs to carefully manage the summit.

“It will have to be managed carefully with a great deal of prep work,” said DiMaggio. “Otherwise, it runs the risk of being more spectacle than substance.”

She said the North’s leader is “setting the agenda and the pace, and the Trump administration is reacting. The administration needs to move quickly to change this dynamic.”

Contradictory messages from the White House have also raised concerns over the administration’s ability to successfully turn the diplomatic opportunity to an achievement. Only hours before the unexpected announcement on Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said “we are a long ways from negotiations.”

This is while several key positions are still left entirely empty in the Trump administration. Joseph Yun, the US envoy in charge of negotiating with Pyongyang, stepped down just last week, and the president has yet to nominate an ambassador to South Korea. Analysts say if the summit fails, the cost could be higher than in the past for the Trump administration. Trump has repeatedly threatened the North with military action to stop its missile and nuclear programs. He even attacked Kim with extraordinary personal insults.

Pyongyang, which has achieved “full nuclear statehood,” however, said it will not give up on its nuclear program unless Washington ends its hostile policy toward the country. The North also said its missiles are capable of reaching anywhere in the United States. Tensions were running so high between the two that raised fears of a nuclear war between North Korea and the United States.  

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