The historic summit between North Korea and the United States has been canceled for now.
President Donald Trump left the door open for future meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and North Korean leaders said they are still willing to sit down with the U.S.
Few people have experience negotiating with North Korea. One of them is Denver's own Chris Hill, a former U.S. Ambassador.
“President George W. Bush sent me to China to work on what was called the “Six-Party Talks,” in which we tried to convince North Korea to give up their nuclear weapons,” Hill explained.
“And, they agreed to do it in a statement. They agreed to take some steps to disable their nuclear reactor, but ultimately we were not able to agree on a verification plan. And I must say, there's just no room for ‘trust me’ in this kind of business. You have to have a full verification plan.”
Regarding the most recent round of talks with North Korea, Ambassador Hill said the two countries were not on the same page as the summit drew closer.
“The Trump administration has made very clear they want to get all of the denuclearization first, and then give North Korea something in return later. I think that was a tall order, and I was, frankly, a little surprised the president thought that would be possible. If he were in their shoes, I wonder if he would have accepted such an arrangement,” Hill said.
“That being said, I think we need to understand North Korea was not ready to give up their nuclear weapons and that’s not our fault, that's their fault.“
Trump tweeted a picture of a letter he sent to North Korean leadership Thursday. The president begins with warm greetings but later shifts to a different tone, as he referenced the size and strength of U.S. nuclear capabilities.
“The letter he sent certainly was, how to put it, unusual,” Hill said. “And we did, to some extent, get back to comparing the relative size of our nuclear arsenals, but I think he also kept the door open to a diplomatic process, and I think that’s very important.”
What happens next with North Korea isn’t immediately clear. Hill said Trump has hinted at a few things.
“The President has alluded to the need to keep very tough sanctions against North Korea,” he said. ”I think he's absolutely right about that.”
“He's also alluded to the fact that we should be prepared for military steps. Even though that’s a lot less likely, I think he needed to make that point and I think that’s fair enough.” Hill continued. “He also indicated that he would be interested in a further dialogue. And I think that’s very important because when and if this is ever solved, it will be solved through some kind of across the table bargaining session.”
