Commentary
Wall Street Journal

Trump Is Serious About Diplomacy With North Korea

His special envoy makes clear the administration’s priority is depriving the regime of nuclear weapons.

tod_lindberg
tod_lindberg
Tod Lindberg
Senior Fellow
Tod Lindberg
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces Steve Biegun as special representative to North Korea at the State Department in Washington, DC, on August 23, 2018. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces Steve Biegun as special representative to North Korea at the State Department in Washington, DC, on August 23, 2018. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

Before President Trump announced in Tuesday’s State of the Union address that he would hold another summit this month with Kim Jong Un, he indulged in a bit of braggadocio: “If I had not been elected president of the United States,� he said, “we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea.�

That may sound strange coming from a president whose engagement with North Korea began with insults and threats, with Messrs. Kim and Trump calling each other “dotard� and “Little Rocket Man.� But Mr. Trump’s alternative history aside, his administration has indeed pursued serious diplomacy with North Korea, taking a novel approach that will shape the bilateral relationship far into the future.

Read the full article in the "Wall Street Journal":.

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