In recent news with what may be the most surprising turn of events in global politics within 2018 so far, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un has expressed interest in negotiating with the United States to potentially give up their nuclear weapons. This comes as a strong shift away from Un's previous position on his nuclear program, which was riddled with violent rhetoric about ensuring the progression of North Korea's nuclear capabilities in order to attack the United States. President Trump has agreed to hold talks with the North Korean leader in order to try and come to some sort of a conclusion on this matter. However, I, like many other Americans am having concerns with this situation for several reasons.
The first major reason why the American people should be alarmed is that no global leader would suddenly change overnight on an issue so pertinent to their leadership and their country's importance on a global scale. At face value, there doesn't seem to be anything that North Korea, and more importantly, Kim Jong Un could gain. This decision comes in light of the fact that international economic sanctions against North Korea are hitting the country hard in wake of their nuclear arms program as well as international delegations distancing themselves from the country as their view of the North Korean leader has been less than present.
In terms of understanding the decision to be so open with the United States, I argue that there could be two possible goals the North Korean leader may be aiming for. The first possibility is that this is all just an elaborate ruse by the North Korean leader to gain some advantage against the United States for some time before resuming their nuclear program at a later date in defiance to the US. Upon reading the news, many of my peers had voiced this concern and while it is likely, I doubt the North Korean leader would go to this extent. While the rest of the world views Kim Jong UN as a madman, it has been shown that he has used careful rationality in terms of preserving his own domestic power against the populace by increasing his nuclear program in the past.
The second, and most likely possible goal Un may be going for is to gain some sort of international recognition and to achieve the moral high ground in international politics. While I just said that Un behaves rationally in order to preserve power, it is without a doubt that many other leaders consider him to be a madman. As a result, it seems like Un is taking this opportunity to extend a hand of diplomacy to both South Korea and the United States and by extension, the rest of the world. Portraying an image of a peaceful diplomat may open up the pathway to decreased sanctions on his economy which could lead to the development of North Korea as an economic nation. While the rest of the world continues to develop, at the moment North Korea continues to live in the past. However, this could change once the stage is set for North Korea to become a diplomatic player in the international scene.
