Make no mistake, the collapse of this week’s U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi is a win for Kim Jong Un. Contradicting Trump, North Korea’s foreign minister said Kim had asked for only partial sanctions relief for shutting down Yongbyon. If it knew the United States could not accept the deal Kim was putting forward, of course Kim knew that as well. Trump also let Kim off the hook for the treatment of Otto Warmbier, the American hostage who died days after being returned from imprisonment in North Korea. No deal is better than a bad deal — but Trump getting played by Kim again and again is even worse.

Source: Washington Post February 28, 2019 21:33 UTC