Bad blood

By John Burton

If the Trump-Kim summit has gone off the rails, blame it on the bad blood between Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea's first vice foreign minister, and John Bolton, the new U.S. national security adviser, who have confronted each other over North Korea's nuclear program for years.

Kim participated in the talks that established the 1994 Agreed Framework agreement that suspended North Korea's plutonium program until 2002 and then was the lead negotiator with the U.S. during the six-party talks a decade ago. His experience has given him a good insight into the bureaucratic politics and key players in Washington.

Bolton has long been a bete noire for Pyongyang. He has been blamed for almost single-handedly sabotaging the Agreed Framework agreement in 2002 on the U.S. side. As the then undersecretary of state for arms control, one of the most senior State Department posts, Bolton actively lobbied against the agreement. When the U.S. intelligence community concluded in 2002 that North Korea was developing a secret uranium enrichment program, Bolton would later say in his memoir, "Surrender Is Not an Option," that "This was the hammer I had been looking for to shatter the Agreed Framework."

Bolton has always regarded North Korea as an untrustworthy negotiating partner that would cheat on any international commitment. As a result, Bolton during his time in the George W. Bush administration pushed for tough and intrusive verification procedures that Pyongyang would be unlikely to ever accept. He also believed that no concessions should be made to adversary nations like North Korea, favoring coercive measures in forcing Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons rather than a cooperative give-and-take approach.

In 2003, Bolton gave a speech in Seoul where he made disparaging remarks about Kim Jong-il and called his rule "a hellish nightmare," which led to a private reprimand by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who believed Bolton was deliberately provoking the North Koreans. In response, Pyongyang described Bolton as "human scum and a bloodsucker," which Bolton later described as "the highest accolade I received during all my service in the Bush years."

So it's perhaps not surprising that when Trump appointed Bolton as his new national security adviser in April, it would give the North Koreans pause.

Bolton soon appeared to be returning to his provocative behavior when he said on April 29 that he favored a "Libya model" in North Korea's denuclearization, which was based on the rapid surrender of Libya's nuclear program and complete access by inspectors to all the country's nuclear sites. By bringing up the Libya example, Bolton was waving a red flag in front of Pyongyang, which has often cited the subsequent downfall of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi as a reason why it was reluctant to give up its nuclear weapons.

Given this background, it is perhaps understandable why Kim Kye-gwan would lash out on May 16 when he denounced Bolton and threatened to pull out of the summit between Kim Jong-un and Trump. Calling Bolton's remarks "reckless" and "unbridled," Kim added that "We do not hide our feeling of repugnance toward him."

Kim's statement was clearly intended to isolate Bolton in the policy making process. It showed that Pyongyang was hoping to play on Trump's desire for a Nobel Peace Prize to persuade the president to sideline Bolton in favor of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been spearheading the latest talks with North Korea.

But in that regard, Kim may have miscalculated. Bolton is known as a skillful bureaucratic infighter and during his time in the Bush administration he succeeded in building a coalition within the government to stop the Agreed Framework.

He appears to be following the same strategy this time, with Vice President Mike Pence last week suggesting that Kim Jong-un would meet the same fate as Gadhafi unless he agreed to give up his nuclear weapons. Bolton may also be behind Trump's recent remarks that China might be encouraging Kim Jong-un to adopt a tougher line on the nuclear issue.

North Korea reacted to Pence's remarks by again threatening to withdraw from the summit and suggesting it could lead to nuclear war. Choe Son-hui, Pyongyang's top U.S. expert and Kim's deputy at the foreign ministry, said "I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the U.S. vice president."

With Bolton's possible encouragement, Trump's cited Choe's "tremendous anger and open hostility" in suddenly deciding to cancel the summit. It is reported that Trump made his decision after meeting Bolton and without notifying Pompeo.

Although Trump has suggested that the summit may still take place, it is unlikely that a deal will be made as long as Bolton remains as Trump's national security adviser given the personal animosity that exists between him and the North Koreans.

John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.