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When he came out of his summit with Kim Jong Un last month, President Trump triumphantly declared that North Korea no longer posed a nuclear threat and that one of the most geopolitical crises the insoluble world had been largely solved. "
But in the days and weeks that followed, US negotiators faced strong resistance from a North Korean team practicing the art of delay and delay.
Diplomats say North Koreans canceled In the meantime, missile test facility facilities that Trump said would be destroyed remain intact, and US intelligence officials say that Pyongyang was destroyed, is working to conceal key aspects of its nuclear program
The lack of immediate progress, although predicted by many analysts, has frustrated the president, who railed at h "The discussions are in course and they are doing very well, "Trump told reporters Tuesday.
The accounts of the dynamics of internal administration come from conversations with a half-dozen White House aides, official Department of State and diplomats, who spoke under the guise of anonymity to discuss delicate negotiations.
Trump was captivated by the nuclear talks. negotiations. His frustration at the lack of progress is accompanied by an irritation of the media coverage of the joint statement that he signed on June 12 in Singapore, document that contains no timetable denuclearization details but has reduced tensions between the two countries.
"Trump has been hit by a strong dose of reality from North Korea's negotiating style, which is still hard for Americans to understand," said Duyeon Kim, a Korean expert at the Center for New American Security.
. Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo has tried to extract concessions from his counterpart, Kim Yong Chol, a former chief of espionage considered by the Trump administration as intransigent and unable to negotiate in any way. outside of Kim's most explicit guidelines. Jong Un.
A weak point from the point of view of US officials occurred during Pompeo's third visit to Pyongyang on July 6 when he pressed offi They asked for details of their plans to return the remains of soldiers Americans killed during the Korean War, as they had agreed to do in Singapore. The issue had been discussed several times and considered by the United States as an easy way for North Korea to demonstrate its sincerity.
But when Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang, the North Koreans insisted that they were not ready to engage. According to diplomats familiar with the talks
The delay angered US officials, who were under pressure to deliver Trump's premature announcement on June 20 that North Korea had already "returned" the remains of 200 soldiers .
The feeling worsened when Kim Jong Un chose not to meet Pompeo during his stay as planned. Pompeo later denied that a meeting was scheduled, a statement contradicted by diplomats who said the secretary initially intended to see the North Korean leader.
Unable to secure an agreement over the remains during his trip, Pompeo arranged for a meeting between North Koreans and their Pentagon counterparts to discuss the issue in the demilitarized zone on July 12. However, the North let the US defense officials wait three hours before calling for the cancellation, diplomats said. The North Koreans then requested a meeting with a senior military officer.
"Let another US representative stand at the altar, wait for the North Korean representative to show up, add insult to injury," said Bruce Klingner. a North Korean scholar at the Conservative Heritage Foundation. "Pyongyang has returned to his heavy bargaining tactics."
The Trump administration maintained a strong public demonstration of support for the negotiations, even as North Korea denounced the "unilateral and denuclearizing gangster-like demand" of the United States. after the last visit of Pompeo and described the discussions as "cancerous."
On Wednesday, Trump said that he got a commitment from Russia to "help" with the problem of North Korea. " The process goes on, "he tweeted ." Big benefits and a promising future for North Korea at the end of the process! "
But at the end of last week, when Trump complained about the lack of positive developments in the negotiations On Friday at the UN, his ambassador, Nikki Haley, accused Russia of blocking efforts to discipline North Korea's illegal smuggling.
Trump and his senior team "have not completely abandoned" the goal of complete denuclearization, but they worry, said a person familiar with the discussions.
Downhill of previous planning rhetoric, Trump told CBS this week that "I'm not really in a hurry.
This more patient approach contrasts with earlier requests from the Trump administration for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program by one year.
"Trump is too prone to walk," said Victor Cha, a North Korean expert that the Trump administration has almost chosen to be the next US ambassador to Seoul. "At least until mid-session."
U.S. Officials blame some of the blame on Kim Yong Chol, who, despite being the chief negotiator for North Korea, has consistently blocked talks by saying that he was not empowered to talk about a whole series of relevant questions. He declined to discuss the opening of a reliable communication channel or even specific goals for Pompeo's next trip to Pyongyang, said the Chinese diplomat at the meeting. Department head Sung Kim and CIA officer Andy Kim wanted to discuss Pompeo's visit and make progress in bringing back the remains of fallen soldiers. But Kim Yong Chol said that he was only allowed to receive a letter that Trump had written to Kim Jong Un.
When US officials tried to raise substantive issues, Kim Yong Chol resisted and continued to ask for the letter. Unable to make any progress, the Americans eventually handed over the letter and ended the meeting after only one hour
"[Kim] has a reputation for being extremely rude and aggressive," said Sung-Yoon Lee , a North Korean academic.
Kim Yong Chol's negotiation tactics so frustrated US officials that many expressed the hope that he would be replaced as chief negotiator by Northern Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, more agreable. The exchange seemed possible because of the joint statement in Singapore, which explicitly named Pompeo as the best US negotiator, but qualified his counterpart as a "relevant senior DPRK leader".
"I think there is a debate Korea has appointed Kim Yong Chol or Ri Yong Ho as its counterpart," said Mr. Cha, who is also a researcher at Georgetown University. "Ri knows the problems better and speaks perfect English Kim is a former spy, not a negotiator."
Ri welcomed Pompeo to the airport earlier this month alongside Kim Yong Chol, but the former spy has spent more time with Pompeo than any other high ranking North Korean.
In the absence of progress on denuclearization, the Trump administration will probably focus on the remnants of war.
At a meeting in the demilitarized zone Sunday, both sides agreed to resume the ground. search operations of the remains of some 5,300 Americans still missing from the conflict in North Korea. Pompeo said this week that he believed the first sets would arrive in the US "in the next two weeks".
U.S. Officials familiar with the talks indicated that the North was committed to returning 55 sets of remains on July 27, the 65th anniversary of the signing of an armistice that ended the war. But Pentagon officials, who sent transit cases to the demilitarized zone a few weeks ago, are wary of the commitments made by North Korea because of its previous cancellations
. been uneven and unresponsive through intelligence and diplomatic channels, US officials said. Both parties have established working groups to improve the communication problem, said a senior official of the State Department.
Many senior security and intelligence officials have long doubted that North Korea is meeting its commitments. Some analysts believe however that a tolerant approach always offers the best prospects.
"I am afraid that Trump will lose patience with the length and complexity of the negotiations that are common when it comes to North Korea., And get away and go back to considerations. serious of the military option, "said Kim Duyeon, the Korean scholar. "Achieving a nuclear deal takes a lot of time and its implementation will be even harder."
Shane Harris, Dan Lamothe and Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.
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