Trump Caves to Kim Jong-un (Again) – By Ryan Bort (Rolling Stone) / Dec 10 2019
President Trump has made a few friends around the world since taking office, but none are as “special” as Kim Jong-un, the murderous North Korean dictator with whom he has met three times, tweeted at repeatedly, and exchanged at least one piece of novelty-size correspondence. In recent weeks, however, their “love” has been tested. Promises have been broken, insults have been exchanged, threats have been lobbed. But the acrimony didn’t stop Trump from effectively canceling a United Nations Security Council conference on North Korea’s human rights abuses, refusing to sign a letter that would have allowed the conference to proceed.
North Korea — which is known for starving its citizens, jailing its citizens without cause, torture, and other atrocities — threatened last week that the conference would be tantamount to a “another serious provocation” to go along with America’s sanction-heavy policy toward the nation. Nevertheless, eight security council member states signed a letter of participation, one shy of the nine required for the conference to be held. The U.S. was expected to be the ninth signatory before the White House pulled out on Monday. The move is the latest instance of Trump cowing to the wishes of one of the world’s most notorious dictators, who has made clear he has no plans to denuclearize, despite the president’s love-blind insistence he will.
The pull-out comes as tension has tightened between the U.S. and North Korea. The latter nation recently resumed medium-range missile testing, and last week said it will send a “Christmas gift” to America in response to stalled negotiations. It’s “entirely up to the U.S.” what kind of “gift” it will receive, North Korea threatened.
When asked to respond, Trump touted his friendship with Kim. “My relationship with Kim Jong-un is really good, but that doesn’t mean he won’t abide by the agreement we signed,” the president said during a NATO conference in London. “I hope he lives up to the agreement, but we’re going to find out.”
Continue to article: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-caves-kim-jong-un-north-korea-human-rights-conference-924604/
