Trump-Kim small deal possible

[Anchor]

Today (1.13), we will also look into the upcoming Trump administration's second term.

Our National Intelligence Service reported to the National Assembly that the U.S. President-elect Trump would engage in dialogue with North Korea during his second term.

In particular, there are concerns that the U.S. and North Korea may pursue small deals such as nuclear freeze or disarmament.

Reporter Yang Min-cheol reports.

[Report]

U.S. President-elect Trump met with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un three times during his first term.

Although the denuclearization negotiations ended in failure, they continued to showcase their friendship by exchanging 'letters'.

[Donald Trump/U.S. President-elect/Dec. 16: "North Korea, another man I get along with very well. I'm the only one that does."]

Our National Intelligence Service believes that President-elect Trump sees this as one of the key achievements of his first term and will therefore engage in North Korea-U.S. dialogue again.

The fact that his close aides, Richard Grenell and Alex Wong, who was deeply involved in the Singapore summit, are being favored is also cited as evidence.

The problem is that North Korea has changed.

Its nuclear and missile capabilities have been significantly advanced, and it has gained a strong backing from Russia.

This raises concerns that the Trump administration, eager for short-term results against North Korea that has raised the threshold for negotiations, may fall into the so-called 'small deal' temptation.

[Park Seon-won/National Assembly Intelligence Committee: "National Intelligence Service reported that if the U.S. judges achieving complete denuclearization of North Korea is difficult, negotiations on a smaller scale, such as nuclear freeze and disarmament, in the form of 'small deals' are also possible."]

Moreover, there is a prevailing view that the role of South Korea in the process of promoting North Korea-U.S. dialogue will be very limited compared to the first Trump administration, which is another challenge to overcome.

[Lim Eul-chul/Professor at Gyeongnam National University Institute for Far Eastern Studies: "The Trump administration's second term is likely to place much more emphasis on containing China, so South Korea needs to leverage this aspect to continue close South Korea-U.S. cooperation and find our role."]

Experts point out that it is crucial to prevent any unilateral North Korean nuclear deals between the U.S. and North Korea that excludes South Korea, and that South Korea must respond carefully to strengthen close prior discussions and cooperation between South Korea and the U.S.

KBS News, Yang Min-cheol.