Trump-Kim Summit: US willing to offer North Korea ‘unique’ security guarantees in exchange for denuclearisation, says Pompeo

SINGAPORE - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday (June 11) the United States is willing to offer North Korea “unique” security guarantees in exchange for the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

Sanctions on North Korea will remain until complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation has been achieved, he told reporters at a briefing at the JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach.

He spoke ahead of the June 12 summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that will be held at Capella hotel in Sentosa island.

Noting that North Korea has previously confirmed its willingness to denuclearise, the US is “eager to see if those words prove sincere”, he said, adding that talks between US and North Korean officials continued in Singapore on Monday.

He said the pre-summit talks were “moving quite rapidly”.

In return for complete denuclearisation, Mr Pompeo said the US will take actions to provide North Korea with “sufficient certainty that they can be comfortable that denuclearisation isn’t something that ends badly for them”.

He added: “Just the opposite. That it leads to a brighter and better future for the North Korean people”.

The guarantees the US would provide would be “different and unique” compared to what has been offered previously. Among other measures, Mr Trump is willing to expand access to foreign investment and other economic opportunities if Mr Kim takes the right steps, he said.

Mr Pompeo also addressed a report by the New York Times that the US team lacked technical expertise on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear programme.

He said a team of experts - from the military, Department of Energy and members of the intelligence community covering North Korea - have been meeting over the last three months to discuss the issue.

“Any suggestion that the United States lacks expertise across government or on the ground here in Singapore is mistaken,” he said.

He said Mr Trump also called Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae In on Monday on the eve of the summit.

Analysts have said that in exchange for denuclearisation, Mr Kim is likely to ask for a security guarantee and the easing of sanctions.

A peace treaty ending the 1950-53 Korean War may also be on the table. The two Koreas remain technically at war as the conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The briefing was held hours after a working lunch between Mr Trump and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana.

https:// www.straitstimes.com/singapore/complete-verifiable-denuclearisation-is-only-outcome-us-will-accept-at-trump-kim-summit

Trump comms aide Steven Cheung leaves White House

A top communications staffer, Steven Cheung, has left the White House, according to a new report.

Cheung completed his final day on Friday as special assistant to the president and director of rapid response, sources told Politico.

Cheung, who previously worked for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, was one of the last aides from the Trump campaign to still be working at the White House.

Another former campaign aide who recently left the West Wing, Cliff Sims, said Cheung was integral to both the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch and the passage of last winter's large tax reform bill.

“Steven has been a part of Trump world for over 700 days,” added former Trump campaign aide Bryan Lanza. “He deserves a gold watch.”

Cheung plans to return to the sports and entertainment industry, another source told the outlet.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-communications-aide-steven-cheung-leaves-white-house

Senators warn: China gaining ‘sharp power’ influence over European, US media

China is gaining influence over European and American media outlets through “manipulation of information and foreign institutions,” a bipartisan group of senators warned Monday.

“We are concerned that while some of these efforts may seem innocuous when taken independently, collectively they represent an attempt to increase the appeal of autocracy and strengthen Chinese leverage over U.S. allies,” Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., and 11 other senators wrote in a letter to President Trump’s national security team.

The 12 senators cited an array of examples, including a recent report documenting the Chinese Communist Party’s, or CCP's, “sharp power” efforts to influence politicians within the European Union. But the effort extends even to the U.S., along with smaller countries that can more easily become dependent on Chinese investment.

“In American news outlets, Beijing has used financial ties to suppress negative information about the CCP,” wrote the senators, who sit on the Foreign Relations, Armed Services, Intelligence, Banking and Judiciary committees.

The letter cited a report from the National Endowment for Democracy, which put a spotlight on what it called a Chinese "sharp power" campaign against Europe.

“Political elites within the European Union (EU) and in the European neighborhood have started to embrace Chinese rhetoric and interests, including where they contradict national and/or European interests,” according to the report authors. “Rather than only China trying to actively build up political capital, there is also much influence courting on the part of those political elites in EU member states who seek to attract Chinese money or to attain greater recognition on the global plane.”

It’s not the first time U.S. officials have warned about Chinese propaganda or other “influence operations.” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who signed the Monday letter, has urged American schools to terminate programs sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has testified that Chinese espionage is a “whole-of-society threat” that uses “non-traditional intelligence sources.” Top U.S. generals, diplomats, and lawmakers also believe that China is funding foreign investment in order to acquire sovereignty over strategically-significant ports.

“The CCP’s long-term objectives with these operations are to undermine liberal democracies, erode the strength of US alliances, weaken the ability of democracies to work against China, supplant U.S. leadership in the world and shape the future of the international order,’ Cortez-Masto wrote.

The senators want Wray to develop “an interagency coordinated strategy” to thwart those efforts, and also want the participation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats, and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Hank Green.

“While nations around the globe seek to influence public opinion and policy debates beyond their borders, the nature of Chinese efforts goes well beyond those legitimate activities,” they wrote. “Indeed, we believe the nature and scope of China’s influence operations suggest it is time the United States look at them holistically, and respond with a similarly unified strategy.”

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/senators-warn-china-gaining-sharp-power-influence-over-european-us-media