‘Nuclear Showdown’ author: We should be talking about dismantlement with North Korea

The author of “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World” said on Monday that the U.S. should use a summit with Kim Jong Un to work toward the dismantlement of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons.

“At some point in the past, we’ve heard the North Koreans say denuclearization of the Korean peninsula means the U.S. gives up its nuclear arsenal,” Gordon Chang told CNN’s “New Day.”

“What we should be talking about should be dismantlement. We want the North Koreans to dismantle their arsenal, give up their ballistic missiles.”

What is North Korea willing to give up on June 12?

“Probably very little,” says @GordonGChang. “The North Koreans will give up what they have to give up … What we should be talking about should be dismantlement” https://t.co/wLLAKUIXYv pic.twitter.com/D4hdrINqJD

— New Day (@NewDay) May 28, 2018

Chang said the North Koreans would probably be willing to give up very little at a summit. Trump canceled a planned June 12 meeting with Kim in Singapore, but there is optimism it may be salvaged.

{mosads}

“There is, of course, a semantic issue here, but the United States needs to be very clear: They give up their nukes, they give up their missiles,” the columnist said.

Chang said any summit should be used to set the stage for future negotiations. He noted, however, that the Trump administration wants to go further and have the North Koreans agree to a deal at the initial meeting.

“That makes it very difficult to meet June 12 because we don’t really have the time to get the North Koreans there,” Chang said.

“We have the power to get them there but maybe not by two weeks from now,” Chang added. “I think the president should have that meeting, he should set principles, talk about things, but this is really very much up in the air right now.”