By agreeing to a meeting between their leaders, the United States has already handed North Korea a long-sought diplomatic victory. “What we don’t want to do is get trapped in a situation, a high-level negotiation where we’re not prepared, where we don’t have our best negotiators forward,” Richardson, a North Korea expert, told CNN. “The administration has to test this with a high bar to see whether North Korea is serious. The United States special representative on North Korean policy, Joseph Yun, retired at the end of last week and no-one has yet been nominated to replace him. He was a strong advocate for diplomatic engagement — rather than threats of war — in dealing with North Korea, but will not now be involved in what once seemed improbable talks.

Source: Manila Bulletin March 10, 2018 00:11 UTC