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March 28, 2024

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With the Singapore Summit now ended, it will be both critical and timely to define the outcome and impact for the United States, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Korean Peninsula, the Pacific region as well as China. In fact, that is the reason Secretary of State Mike Pompeo immediately following the Summit, flew to the region to back-brief those countries leaders. But equally important and perhaps most of all is the impact on President Donald J. Trump and his presidency. Certainly at first glimpse, for President Donald Trump — it was an extremely successful Summit. From which he is expected to get a substantial bump in the polling number to include his favorability numbers.
Of course, the greatest success of the Summit was the fact that the President was able to get Kim Jong-un to sign an agreement calling for total denuclearization. While, it is still too early to consider it a done deal, as we have noted in previous discussions — it is imperative to accept the fact that without the agreement, any chance of a future meetings would prove fruitless. Further, the two leaders seemed to have found a lot of common ground with which to work and it gives us optimism that the future will see all nukes permanently removed from the Korean Peninsula – not doubt if President Trump has anything to say and do about it.
So, under the signed agreement known officially as the “Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit,” the signed agreement addresses and states the following:
President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a first, historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018.
President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un conducted a comprehensive, in-depth, and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new U.S. – DPRK relations and the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Convinced that the establishment of the new U.S. – DPRK relations will continue to the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and of the world, and recognizing that mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un agreed to the following:
– The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new U.S. -j DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the population of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.
– The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
– Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
– The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.
– Having acknowledged that the U.S – DPRK summit — the first in history — was an epochal event of great significance in overcoming decades of tensions and hostilities between the two countries and for the opening up of a new future, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un commit to implement the stipulations in this joint statement fully and expeditiously. The United States and the DPRK commit to hold follow-up negotiations, led by the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and a relevant high-level DPRK official, at the earliest possible date, to implement the outcomes of the U.S. – DPRK summit.
– President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have committed to cooperate for the development of new U.S. -DPRK relations and for the promotion of peace, prosperity, and security of the Korean Peninsula and of the world.
On face value the tenants of the Singapore Summit agreement are a broad brush of the many hours of shuttle diplomacy, negotiations and both cooperation and tough debate between the North Koreans and President Trump’s seasoned, skilled, and tough negotiating team which I addressed in my previous article.
But the real proof is what they had to endure and what they succeeded in accomplishing over the course of many months to reach the first hurdle to set in motion what was achieved on Tuesday.
As I previously noted, President Trump assembled a first class negotiating team that did its job in an outstanding manner implementing and orchestrating the outcome we witnessed on Tuesday in Singapore. The Trump team had worked very hard to find a way to bring about a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. The evidence was plentiful and the results were obvious as the Summit went far-more smoothly than anyone imagined they could have. So, to those who understand the complexity of such an extravagant statesmanship level event, the question that must be asked is, what was and is continuing to happen behind the scenes to lay the groundwork for peace?
One comment that was implied was that the administration has been operating like a salesman trying to convince a possible client to purchase their product. In this case, the “client” was and is North Korea, and the product is “peace.”  That said, after 70-years of death, spying, intrigue, and brinksmanship. And while this perhaps could be viewed as one of the most successful PSYOP, information operations or strategic influence campaigns in recent times, maybe calling it a “sales pitch” isn’t the worst way to go? Regardless, it was both remarkable and again successful.
Also perhaps, this was one of the unseen strengths of the Trump administration’s penchant for “doing things differently”? But I for one certainly also believe President Trump knew exactly what he was doing, and more than anything had the intended outcome in mind. While this entire production can obviously still go sideways, and all of the progress we seem to have made could be lost – nevertheless, there is still reason for positive expectations and optimism. The fact is, we haven’t been this close to peace in Korea in over 70-years is a phenomenal accomplishment by President Trump.
President Trump gave the nod to the most important aspect of his team’s “sales pitch” via Twitter, when he explained that if North Korea were to decide to join the rest of the peace-loving world, the United States would be happy to help bring them up to speed economically.


Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the Summit between Kim Jong Un and myself. I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!
4:09 PM – May 27, 2018


This one factor is likely playing a massive role in the negotiations because Kim Jong Un is no doubt picturing himself as the man who brought prosperity back to his starving nation. The United States of America is the wealthiest nation in history and just as we’ve rebuilt the countries of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Germany into economic powerhouses following both WWII and the Korean War … the North Korean leader knows or at the very least believes we can do the same for his people, and he will be the greatest benefactor.
But there’s more than economics involved in this sales pitch. There’s stuff like the video, which the Trump team had made specifically for their North Korean counterparts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgIPJr8a9Hw
The video is called “A Story of Opportunity” and, as it had been described by media experts in the know, it was produced with Kim Jung Un in mind. The four-minute video was apparently intended to show Kim that there are two paths: one leads to a bright and prosperous future for North Korea, while the other path leads to poverty and isolation — the latter obviously being a situation with which North Korea is quite familiar.
A critical point in the video notes that “History is always evolving, and there comes a time when only a few are called upon to make a difference,” the narrator says, “But the question is — what difference will the few make? The past doesn’t have to be the future. Out of the darkness can come the light, and the light of hope can burn bright.”
“Will this leader choose to advance his country and be part of a new world? Be the hero of his people?” the theatrical video asks, “Will he shake the hand of peace and enjoy prosperity like he has never seen?”
President Trump said Kim, the son of a huge film buff, thoroughly enjoyed the presentation. “I think he loved it,” the President said at his post-Summit press conference.  As was witness around the world, the two leaders signed an agreement at the Summit designed to keep diplomacy and engagement moving in the right direction. The U.S. side offered certain security assurances and promises to pursue improved relations while the North Korean side committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The President would not say whether that included the possibility of withdrawing U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula, nevertheless there is the concept of a carrot and stick approach, as we have since heard.
Pompeo noted, “I can only say this, we are prepared to take what will be security assurances that are different, unique, than America’s been willing to provide previously.” He further pointed out that the context of the discussions were, “radically different than ever before.”
Also keep in mind the fact that North Korea has faced crippling diplomatic and economic sanctions as it has advanced development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Pompeo held firm to Trump’s position that sanctions will remain in-place until North Korea denuclearizes — and said the U.S. would increase sanctions even more if diplomatic discussions did not progress positively and in the right direction.
If President Trump is successful at brokering peace on the Korean peninsula, one has to wonder if his methodology could change the process, practice and techniques of diplomacy across the globe? Is President Trump the new wave of the diplomatic future, or is he the only man who knows how to “do” foreign policy like a CEO in a boardroom? The event by international standards and measures for what was accomplished is historic indeed, despite the drivel drummed up by the Democrats and the political-left.

  • Col. Jim Waurishuk

    Jim Waurishuk is a retired USAF Colonel, serving nearly 30-years as a career senior intelligence and political-military affairs officer and special mission intelligence officer with expertise in strategic intelligence, international strategic studies and policy, and asymmetric warfare. He served as a special mission intelligence officer assigned to multiple Joint Special Operations units and with the CIA’s Asymmetric Warfare Task Force and international and foreign advisory positions. He served as Deputy Director for Intelligence for U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) during the peak years of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Global War on Terrorism. Waurishuk is a former White House National Security Council staffer and a former Distinguished Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council, Washington, D.C. He served as a senior advisor to the Commander U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and served as Vice President of the Special Ops-OPSEC. Currently, he is the Chairman of the Hillsborough County (FL) Republican Executive Committee and Party and serves on the Executive Board of the Republican Party of Florida.

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