Only One Wins

U.S. President Donald Trump is already celebrating the planned meeting with Kim Jong Un as a success although the North Korean dictator will come out the winner afterward.

A meeting with Kim is risky for a democratic politician. First, photos run of a handshake with a dictator who has even family members murdered to retain his power. Then a peace treaty full of phony compromises comes about. Kim will probably break this in the end just like he and his father repeatedly broke disarmament agreements in the past.

That is probably too long-term for Trump to be thinking. He is determined to celebrate the result of this meeting as a success: Trump, the doer, achieves a breakthrough where all others have failed. Yet even if he is motivated for the wrong reason, Trump is doing the right thing. Disarmament is good too, even if it only occurs superficially.

The true winner, however, is Kim. He will come out of the negotiations stronger. The threat of an American invasion with a regime change is off the table. In exchange for disarmament, he will not only demand the lifting of the current sanctions but, in addition, economic aid. Furthermore, he can present himself as a world-class leader to whom the U.S. president plays court. Incidentally, he will have emancipated himself from the Chinese who are already annoyed by that.