Dear Editor:
Let's see what's happened. Last fall North Korea completed their planned tests of bombs and rockets, so they decided to see what they could wring out of the Americans.
First, they got a summit meeting with the American president, something they've always wanted. That president prepared for the meeting by doing a war dance, attacking his allies and largest trading partner and starting a trade war with his allies, all to show the North Koreans how tough he was.
Undaunted, the North Koreans went to the summit anyway. The American president advised them going in that nothing would do but "complete, irreversible, verified denuclearization of North Korea." Tough talk.
So how did it turn out? The U.S., apparently without consulting our South Korean allies, agreed to cease all military exercises in South Korea. The president signed a vague and meaningless memorandum and invited Kim Jong Un to visit the White House.
As for the North Koreans, they committed to "work toward" the denuclearization of "the Korean Peninsula." How they will do this work in South Korea (part of the Korean Peninsula) was unspecified. When this work will begin was unspecified. How and by whom this work will be verified was unspecified. How it will be determined that this work is irreversible was unspecified. And they drove a wedge between the U.S. and South Korea, one of our key allies.
Thank God we sent our highly skilled master negotiator to this summit.