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Friday, March 9, 2018

International security

Trump and North Korea talks: Strange optics of the North Korea announcement


South Korean National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong (C) and South Korea National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon (L) make their way to brief reporters outside the West Wing of the White House on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DCWhen South Korea's national security adviser stood on the front lawn of the White House and delivered the news that North Korea's Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump would meet by May, a piece of history was made. But analyst Ankit Panda's dissection of that moment and the extraordinary statement shows that all may not be as it seems.
There was something profoundly odd about the optics of this announcement. Three South Koreans - National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong, Suh Hoon the top spy chief, and the ambassador to the US Cho Yoon-je - stood shoulder-to-shoulder speaking to eagerly-gathered reporters outside the West Wing.
Without any American officials present, it very much placed this entire diplomatic initiative in South Korea's hands.
One could easily walk away sensing that the United States wasn't entirely enthusiastic about this endeavour.

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