UNITED NATIONS: Confronting the dangers of North Korea’s nuclear threat, President Donald Trump arrived at the United Nations on Monday striking a far less ominous tone than a year ago, announcing he likely will hold a second summit with Kim Jong Un “quite soon.”

Twelve months after Trump stood at the rostrum of the UN General Assembly and derided Kim as “Rocket Man,” the push to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula is a work in progress, although fears of war have given way to dreams of rapprochement. The president’s bellicose denunciations of Pyongyang have largely given way to hopeful notes.

“It was a different world,” Trump said of his one-time moniker for the North Korean leader. “That was a dangerous time. This is one year later, a much different time.” He added that preparations are underway by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for a second presidential meeting with Kim “quite soon.” Trump arrived at the UN on Monday morning for a meeting on the global drug trade, ahead of a sit-down with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who comes bearing a personal message to Trump from Kim after their inter-Korean talks last week.

Trump and Moon are expected to sign a new version of the US-South Korean trade agreement, one of Trump’s first successes in his effort to renegotiate trade deals on more favourable terms for the US. Even so, some US officials worry that South Korea’s eagerness to restore relations with the North could reduce sanctions pressure on Kim’s government, hampering efforts to negotiate a nuclear accord.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2018