President Donald Trump

Summit Surprise: Trump Agrees to Curtail Military Exercises in Korea

President Trump extended an olive branch to North Korea during the summit by agreeing to stop the large United States-South Korean military exercise, something Pyongyang has long called a “grave provocation” that is a preparation for an invasion.

The president’s revelation that he planned to put the “war games” on hold as part of the agreement with Kim to work “toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
“Under the circumstances that we’re negotiating a very comprehensive complete deal, I think it’s inappropriate to be having war games,” Trump told reporters.
He also described the exercises as “very provocative” and said the move would “save us a tremendous amount of money.”
The next round of the joint drills were due to be held in August.
But both the Pentagon and South Korea’s military appeared to have blindsided by Trump’s statement.
U.S. Forces Korea said it had “received no updated guidance,” and Seoul said it would need to clarify the “intention behind his comments.”
Around 28,000 U.S. troops are based in South Korea. The U.S. and its allies maintain the drills are purely defensive in nature.
As well as putting the North on edge, the drills highlight the gulf between the capabilities of the South Korean military and its advanced U.S. ally, and the sizable but aging North Korean forces.
In December, joint exercises named Vigilant Ace involved some 230 planes and 12,000 U.S. military personnel in what was described as “a realistic air combat exercise.”
Despite signing the statement with Kim, Trump told reporters Tuesday that reducing the number of U.S. troops in South Korea was “not part of the equation right now.”

While the many detractors of Trump point out that he made concessions while the North Koreans promised only to do what they’ve promised before, it was extending an olive branch as a show of faith only. Those war games can be turned back on as quickly as they’re turned off.

It was a first step, nothing more, to generate further talks between the two sides.

Just a few months ago, there was worry about a nuclear confrontation between North Korea and the United States. That potential event seems much less likely today.

To read the entire article from NBC News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Trump, Kim Jong Un Get a Deal Done, Sign “A Pretty Historic” Document

And just like that, after meeting for several hours in the morning in Singapore which was in the middle of the night as America slept, President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came to an agreement.

Trump and Kim signed the agreement on Tuesday while Trump said the North Korean leader “reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” In exchange, Trump agreed to “provide security guarantees” to North Korea.

Trump has agreed to a second summit and will eventually host Jong at the White House, something that was completely unheard of just a few months ago.

For Kim Jong Un, this agreement and the meeting with Trump is a huge gamble. The despotic, iron-fisted ruler of a closed, paranoid country that has committed countless acts of human rights abuses against its own people, is a sign they may indeed come out of the dark.

Speaking thru an interpreter, Kim Jong Un said, “It has not been easy to come to this point,” Kim said. “For us, the past has been holding us back and old practices and prejudices have been covering our eyes and ears, but we have been able to overcome everything to arrive here today.”

Trump also promised to stop the Korean war games, something which the North Koreans viewed as provocative. As to withdrawing U.S. troops from Korea, Trump said that is the goal but it probably wouldn’t happen for some time.

Mike Pompeo, while he was the CIA Director traveled to the North twice to set the stage for the historic summit. He got a lot of the obstacles cleared and where the two countries were taunting each other with nuclear war a few months ago, a deal, perhaps just the preliminary one has been reached. It was Kim Jong Un’s first time he was seen outside of his own country since taking power in 2011.

The Text of the Agreement:

Convinced that the establishment of new US-DPRK relations will contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and of the world, and recognizing that mutual confidence building cam promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un state the following:

The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new US-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.
The United States and 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 US-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 the joint statement fully and expeditiously.

The United States and the DPRK commit to hold follow-on negotiations, led by the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and a relevant high-level DPRK official, at the earliest possible date, to implement the outcomes of the US-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 US-DPRK relations and for the promotion of peace, prosperity, and the security of the Korean Peninsula and of the world.

DONALD J. TRUMP
President of the United States of America
KIM JONG UN
Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
June 12, 2018
Sentosa Island
Singapore

Iran Foreign Minister: The World Must Stand Up to US Bullying

Iran’s Foreign Minister said that the world needs to stand up to the bullying and bellicose behavior of the United States as he attempts to save a nuclear deal after Washington’s withdrawal last month.

In a letter from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to his counterparts, he asked “the remaining signatories and other trade partners” to “make up for Iran’s losses” caused by the US exit, if they sought to save the historic accord.
The nuclear deal was the result of “meticulous, sensitive and balanced multilateral talks”, Zarif was quoted as saying in the letter, parts of which were published by the state news agency IRNA on Sunday.
He added the landmark 2015 agreement could not be renegotiated as the US has demanded.
Zarif said the US’ “illegal withdrawal” from the deal and its “bullying methods to bring other governments in line” with that decision have discredited the rule of law in the international arena.
The remaining signatories – France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China – still see the international accord as the best chance of stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and are trying to salvage it.
Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has set out a series of conditions on for European powers if they want Tehran to stay in the nuclear deal, including steps to safeguard trade with Tehran and guarantee Iranian oil sales.
Trump abandoned the agreement on May 8, arguing he wanted a bigger deal that not only limited Iran’s atomic work but also reined in its support for proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon and that curbed its ballistic missile programme.

The missile program and the proxies which include Hezbollah and Hamas among others will be a sticking point with the Iranians. The U.S. government has frequently said that the money the Iranians got from the deal was used to finance global terrorism.

How the European signatories view those points and whether or not they are interested in renegotiating a new deal will be the big question in the coming days.

To read the entire article by Al Jazeera, click here:

Photo: Wikipedia

US: North Korea Replaces Top Three Military Officers

In a move U.S. officials say is to jump-start the country’s economic development and engage more with the outside world, North Korea has replaced their top three military officers.

Kim Jong Un is preparing for a high-stakes summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12, the first such meeting between a North Korean leader and a sitting U.S. president.
The U.S. official, who spoke on Sunday on condition of anonymity, was commenting on a report by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that all three of the North’s top military officials were believed to have been replaced.
Kim’s motivation remains unclear but analysts said the shake-up allows him and the ruling party to tighten control over the Korean People’s Army (KPA) at a critical time of international engagement and domestic development.
“If Kim Jong Un is set on making peace with the U.S. and South Korea and dealing away at least part of the nuclear program, he will have to put the KPA’s influence in a box and keep it there,” said Ken Gause, director of the International Affairs Group at CNA, a non-profit research and analysis organization.
The United States is seeking a negotiated end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and U.S. officials believe there was some dissension in the military about Kim’s approaches to South Korea and the United States.
Trump wants North Korea to “denuclearize”, or get rid of its nuclear arsenal, in return for relief from economic sanctions. North Korea’s leadership is believed to regard nuclear weapons as crucial to its survival, while Kim has said he plans to focus on economic development.
Citing an unidentified intelligence official, Yonhap said No Kwang Chol, first vice minister of the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, had replaced Pak Yong Sik as defense chief, while Ri Myong Su was replaced by his deputy, Ri Yong Gil.
North Korean state media previously confirmed that Army General Kim Su Gil had replaced Kim Jong Gak as director of the KPA’s General Political Bureau.

The moves are seen by some officials as a way of Kim Jong Un of consolidating his power by installing younger, more capable officers in charge who are totally loyal to him and have the military at the forefront of all of his economic development programs.

Photo: Wikipedia

To read the entire article by Reuters, click here:

North Korea Still Willing to Meet With President Trump

Kim Jong Un has stated that North Korea is still willing to meet with President Donald Trump “at any time” despite the recent cancellation of the summit meeting between the two leaders.

The two leaders were slated to meet in Singapore on June 12^th. The language of their message was not as bombastic as usual for the North’s Foreign Ministry.

Kim Kye Gwan, a top official at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said Trump’s decision to cancel the talks runs counter to the global community’s wishes for peace on the Korean Peninsula.
“We would like to make known to the US side once again that we have the intent to sit with the US side to solve problem(s) regardless of ways at any time,” said Kim in comments published by the country’s state-run news agency KCNA Friday.
Kim said Trump’s decision is “not consistent with the desire of humankind for peace and stability in the world, to say nothing of those in the Korean Peninsula.”
President Trump canceled the summit Thursday in a letter addressed to Kim Jong Un, citing recent hostile comments from top North Korean officials and concern over Pyongyang’s commitment to giving up its nuclear weapons. Trump said it would be “inappropriate” to have the summit given his worries.
The final straw, US officials said, was a statement Thursday from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry calling US Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy” and hinting that Pyongyang was ready for a “nuclear showdown” should diplomacy fail.
Trump’s administration claimed there had been hiccups behind the scenes. In a background briefing a senior White House official said the North Koreans had failed to turn up to a meeting with a White House official in Singapore to talk planning and logistics. “The North Koreans didn’t tell us anything. They simply stood us up,” the official said.
But despite President Trump’s abrupt cancellation, he appeared to leave the door open for talks to resume at some point, telling reporters Thursday that “if and when Kim Jong Un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting.”

The two sides can still meet and South Korea, who was acting almost as a middleman in the earlier negotiations will be key if future talks are planned. The North Koreans did destroy their nuclear test site in a show for western media.

To read the entire article from CNN News, click here:

Photo courtesy CNN Video Screenshot

Marines Beefing Up Security at US Embassies After Jerusalem Opening

In the aftermath of the violence in Israel over the moving of the United States embassy to Jerusalem, the Pentagon is ordering the Marines to augment and bolster security at all U.S. embassies in the Middle East and Africa.

The Marines have already begun adding security forces to their normal Embassy protective personnel because of the Jerusalem situation as well as the U.S. pullout from the Iran nuclear deal.

The Defense Department is not disclosing the number of Marines being deployed or their locations although it’s been known for weeks that security has been increased at US diplomatic installations in Israel including the new embassy in Jerusalem.
“DOD takes necessary steps to mitigate threats to U.S. personnel, embassies and consulates around the world. At the request of the Department of State, and in coordination with host nations, the Department of Defense has deployed additional Marine Security Guards to several U.S. embassies for the purpose of temporarily augmenting security,” Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich told CNN.
Escalating violence in the Gaza strip area has also led to increased concern it could spark demonstrations in other locations.
The Marines are being sent from a unit called the Marine Security Guard Security Augmentation unit which has advanced training beyond the routine Marine Corps embassy guard who protect installations inside their fence perimeter.
The additional Marines “are uniquely postured to respond expeditiously,” the Marine Corps statement said.
US embassies throughout the Middle East and Muslim countries are on alert because of three key events: the US embassy opening in Jerusalem on Monday, the beginning of Ramadan and the Nakba anniversary for Palestinians.
Palestinians mark what they call the “Nakba” or Catastrophe, in memory of the more than 700,000 Palestinians who were either driven from, or fled, their homes during the Arab-Israeli war that accompanied the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

This wasn’t unexpected, the Pentagon and the Marine Corps have been anticipating this development for several weeks and the plans have been in place to augment security for US personnel and property.

As of today, there is no specific terror threat against U.S. interests but rather just a heightened sense of preparedness that will prevent any untold incidents happening.

To read the entire article from CNN, click here:

Photo courtesy US Marine Corps

Netanyahu Sidesteps Talk of Possible US Aid Cut to Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin chose his words carefully on Sunday as he discussed a proposed funding halt for Palestinian refugees by U.S. President Donald Trump although he once again called for the U.N. agency that is supposed to help Palestinian refugees to be dismantled.

Netanyahu’s comments were guarded because although he wants to support Trump and the U.S., his closest ally, he also knows that cutting off of funds will further drive the Palestinian people into hardship which would no doubt push the militants into more conflict with Israel

With Palestinians seething over U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition last month of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, he threatened on Tuesday to withhold aid money, accusing them of being “no longer willing to talk peace”.
On Friday, in a report denied by a State Department official, the Axios news site said Washington had frozen $125 million in funding for UNRWA. The U.N. agency, founded in 1949 to aid Palestinian refugees, is a main provider of educational and health services in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu said UNRWA was “an organization that perpetuates the Palestinian problem.”
“It also enshrines the narrative of the so-called ‘right of return’. Therefore, UNRWA should pass from the world,” he told a weekly cabinet meeting.
Praising Trump’s “critical approach” on the aid issue, Netanyahu steered clear of advocating a suspension of funding for the Palestinians. He said U.N. money for them should be transferred gradually to its global refugee agency UNHCR “with clear criteria for supporting genuine refugees and not fictitious ones, as is happening today under UNRWA.”

Despite Arab and Palestinian protests over where the U.S. chooses for its embassy, the United States is the U.N.’s largest donor to UNRWA, pledging more than $370 million dollars as of 2016. UNRWA called this latest development a “failure of the parties to deal with the issue…”

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Russia Threatens to Cut US Observation Flights IAW Open Skies Pact

Russia, which has never fully complied with the mutual observation flight agreement that was supposed to build trust between them and the U.S., is now threatening to cut the agreement and blaming Washington fully for the snafu.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it has informed Washington that after the U.S. had accused Russia of violating the patrol flights treaty and “created maximum inconveniences” for the Russian mission, the Kremlin will set up more limitations on U.S. military flights.
The transatlantic deal was a confidence-building measure by which the U.S., Russia and dozens of other states have flown unarmed, reconnaissance jets over each other’s territories since 2002. The flights are meant to calm fears of military buildup, but as Moscow and Washington’s relationship has deteriorated, compliance with the treaty has been at risk.
Moscow is threatening to curb the airspace it allows scheduled U.S. observation flights, and Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova is blaming Washington for triggering this reaction. She said it was the “absolutely groundless” U.S. accusations that Russia is violating the treaty in the first place that have resulted in Moscow now reneging on its obligations. The new limitations would affect nighttime flyovers in the airspace above three Russian airfields, she said.
“Stemming from the principle of reciprocity, Russia was forced to undertake adequate measures of a procedural nature,” she told RIA on Thursday, suggesting Moscow is responding to similar limits enforced by the U.S.
While Washington has repeatedly introduced punitive sanctions to castigate Russian actions, including for its annexation of Crimea and efforts to undermine the 2016 presidential election, there has been no official announcement of a rollback on the Treaty of the Open Skies by the U.S. government. For years, the U.S. State Department has complained that Russia was obstructing jets from getting as close to the ground as the treaty allows. Three airfields, one of which was the heavily armed western port of Kaliningrad, have been the site of reported Russian noncompliance.

The Russians are claiming foul over the US supposedly asking a Russian observation plane to increase altitude over a base in Alaska. However, recently, the Russians flaunted the agreement by having one of their aircraft hover over Washington D.C. landmarks while another buzzed a resort that President Donald Trump was staying at.

To read the entire article from Newsweek click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Trump In a Teleconference With the Troops, “We’re Winning”

President Donald Trump conducted a teleconference with troops deployed which was supposed to be a Christmas greeting but it turned into a cheerleading video with the President telling the troops how well they have been doing in the war on terrorism as well as thanking the families of the troops. To top it off, the president said, “We’re winning.”

Military representatives on the call included Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Paul Goossen in Qatar, Marine Colonel Christopher Gideons in Kuwait, Navy Commander Timothy LaBenz aboard the USS Sampson in 5th Fleet OPS Underway, Coast Guard Captain Matthew Wadleigh in Guantanamo Bay and Army Colonel Charles Lombardo in Kuwait, according to a White House pool report.
The call came a few days after Vice President Pence made a surprise visit to Afghanistan to meet with U.S. troops and Afghan leaders. He told soldiers that “victory is closer than ever before.”
Trump is spending Christmas at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He wished soldiers a “very, very merry Christmas,” adding that the country is saying “Merry Christmas, again, very, very proudly.”
Trump specifically praised the Coast Guard for its work following hurricanes in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico.
“What a job you’ve done. The Coast Guard saved thousands and thousands of lives, almost it’s unbelievable when I look at the charts, I saw the number of lives you saved,” he said.

The president then took a question and answer session from the troops that was private as the press was not allowed to attend or see the back and forth.

To read the entire article from The Hill click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia