Trump-Kim Summit Receives Mixed Reviews in the Region
Kevin Rudd on Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas
On June 12, 2018, ASPI President Kevin Rudd spoke with Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas about regional perspectives on the Trump-Kim summit.
Rudd suggests that South Korean President Moon Jae-in will be “delighted by the result,” his domestic reputation bolstered as the “architect of this entire summit process.” Rudd suspects that the South Koreans will not be as vexed by the cessation of U.S.-South Korea military exercises, as they will by the broader question raised about the United States’ “long-term military commitment…to South Korea. For the first time, today, we had a president of the United States opening up, publically, on the question of his desire to have U.S. troops pulled from the Korean Peninsula altogether.
Meanwhile, according to Rudd, China is already maneuvering to “start taking the pressure off the North Koreans, in terms of the existing range of sanctions.” The Trump administration may therefore find it difficult to continue to maintain crippling sanctions against North Korea. (5 min., 37 sec)