re: #219 KGxvi

This is one of those things about diplomacy that Trump (and most/all of his team) doesn’t understand: words mean different things to different people. When we say “denuclearization” we mean that North Korea abandon and destroy it’s nuclear weapons program. When North Korea says “denuclearization” they mean that they’ll get rid of their bomb when the US removes its nuclear umbrella and abandons its mutual protection pact with South Korea. If those are the only terms that North Korea will accept, then we won’t have a deal because significantly increasing the odds of war on the peninsula is not in anyone’s interest (except maybe the Russians who will enjoy seeing US and Chinese resources being spent)

Used to be confident we could recover quickly from diplomatic blunders. Now not so much.