U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore last June. Reuters-Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

Ahead of the Feb. 27-28 summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam, two experts shared their views in interviews with The Korea Times.

David Kim, a former State Department nonproliferation and East Asia desk official and a research analyst with the Stimson Center's Weapons of Massive Destruction, Nonproliferation and Security program, believes Pyongyang's denuclearization should be a long-term goal.

Kim Dong-yub, a former South Korean naval officer and professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, points out the two countries' differing perspectives on how to approach the North's denuclearization. The following are edited interviews.

'North Korea's denuclearization will outlive the Trump administration': David Kim

David Kim of the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of David Kim

"The denuclearization and the transformation of U.S.-DPRK relations have to be in lockstep moving forward," David Kim said. "We need to be clear to the public that complete denuclearization is a long-term goal that will outlive the Trump presidency," he told The Korea Times in an email interview on Monday.

"Of course denuclearization efforts could be speeded up (at the Hanoi summit), but it won't (happen overnight) because we have not built the trust between both countries."

To build trust between the U.S. and North Korea takes confidence-building measures ― rather than the "all-or-nothing" approach that has failed in the past ― and indications so far are that the Trump administration is backing away from that kind of approach, so far, he said.

He said that although the Trump administration had sent mixed messages on the summit, the overall message coming from the U.S. seems positive.

"President Trump lowered expectations for the summit by saying he's in no rush and that sanctions could be lifted, while Pompeo told Jake Tapper (of CNN) that the core UNSCR sanctions would remain in place until denuclearization has occurred," Kim said.

"Inadvertently, he suggested that there are ways to partially lift some sanctions ― exemptions on the Gaesong Industrial Complex or Mount Geumgang tourism project, sports exchanges, humanitarian aid, travel visas and other things.

"Yet the overall message coming out (from the U.S. side) . . . seems to be positive, suggesting that we want to give President Trump the flexibility to continue dual-track diplomacy: maintaining sanctions ― although maybe not as strong as before ― and maximum pressure while engaging diplomatically and economically with Kim Jong-un."

But Kim also expressed the concerns that Trump could face domestic opposition about the results of the Hanoi summit.

"For Trump, any deal is going to be a hard sell to the D.C. foreign policy establishment ―Republican and Democrat ― including Democratic primary contenders for president, academics, elites and the Democratic-controlled Congress," he said.

"Even if Trump gets partial denuclearization commitments such as a freeze on fissile material, inspections/dismantlement of Yongbyon ―5MWe (megawatts electric) reactor ― an indefinite cap on nuclear/ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) testing and dismantlement of some ICBM delivery systems, the foreign policy establishment in D.C. may try to spin this as cosmetic and demand faster efforts on denuclearization."

'Primary goals for Hanoi summit differ': Kim Dong-yub

Kim Dong-yub of the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. Korea Times file

"The primary agenda of the Hanoi summit would be different, depending on from whose perspective we see it. From the North Korean perspective, it would be corresponding measures by the U.S. while from the U.S. perspective it is further denuclearization measures," Kim Dong-yub said in a phone interview with The Korea Times, Monday. "We need to have a balanced approach on this."

He said the two sides would work out details on measurements for freezing nuclear facilities other than the Yongbyon site, such as ICBM facilities.

"In the Hanoi summit, the primary agenda on the denuclearization roadmap is that North Korea would want to freeze the Yongbyon site only, while the U.S. would ask more than this," the professor said. "It could be the destruction of all North Korean plutonium and uranium sites as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun said, but I think another important possibility is the freezing of ICBM facilities outside the Yongbyon site."

He said that while the corresponding measures from the U.S. could be sanctions relief on inter-Korean economic projects such as the Gaeseong Industrial Complex or Mount Geumgang tourism, it should be left to the two Koreas to announce such steps finally, because they are issues between the two Koreas, not between the U.S. and North Korea.

He added that the U.S. could also offer to take North Korea off its terrorism list, because the listing was a unilateral sanction by the U.S. that could be lifted through executive order by the U.S. president.

"Trump is negotiating with both sides, one with Kim Jong-un and the other with politicians at home," he said. "This is why I am more concerned about the post-Hanoi situation rather than the Hanoi summit itself."

Kim said the talks between U.S. and North Korea had stalled after the Singapore summit last June, mainly due to the opposition parties in the U.S. that claimed North Korea should "declare" all its nuclear facilities.

"Even though Trump could reach an agreement with Kim in Hanoi, things would be difficult if he faces opposition at home," he said.