tion to serving as senior country director for Korea. He is currently a global fellow with the D.C.-based Wilson Center and a senior lecturer of international relations at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. Contrary to popular opinion, Jackson says it wasn’t Trump’s maximum pressure campaign that brought Kim to the bargaining table. Rather, previous sanctions instituted by President Obama forced the regime to ramp up its nuclear weapons program. With that program now firmly in place and the threat of preventative war off the table, Kim is entering negotiations from a position of strength and can switch gears to focus on the country’s economy. This is in line with Kim’s so-called “byungjin” strategy to pursue nuclear weapons capability while also developing the economy. In fact, while many Korea watchers believe the isolated dictator might be desperate to make a deal, Jackson says not so fast. He believes it is Kim — not Trump; not South Korea’s Moon Jae-in; and not even China’s Xi Jinping — dictating the international moves at play. The Asia specialist thinks the oft-cited belief that Kim is motivated by survival is more fiction. Jackson argues that the driving force for Kim is, in fact, the unification of the Koreas, a long-held goal of the ruling family dynasty. On that note, Jackson predicts
VAN JACKSON: The intel chiefs said everything experts believe. President Trump is lying on North Korea. TWD: What is President Trump’s motivation to lie? Granted he has played fast and loose with the truth before and throughout his presidency. VJ: He lies for the sake of diplomacy. But what does that get us? Pursuing diplomacy means working toward the goal of nuclear arms control. But what it all means ultimately is North Korea — Kim Jong-un, specifically — is playing President Trump and isolating him from the rest of his administration. TWD: How so? PHOTO: BY DAN SCAVINO JR.
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un shakes hands with President Donald Trump at the start of their summit in Singapore last June. That first summit did not lead to tangible progress in getting the North to denuclearize; the hope is that the second meeting in Vietnam produces more concrete results.
that the only movement in the near future will be the two Koreas growing closer together. He doesn’t believe Kim will budge on the nuclear front, especially under the current administration, which is why the U.S. should accept the North’s nuclear status and focus instead on dialogue and arms control. Jackson talked about this and
other issues during a recent interview where he didn’t mince words about the two leaders at the heart of this high-stakes nuclear drama. *This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT: The chief intelligence and national
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security heads for the major U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, CIA and director of national intelligence, testified before Congress and contradicted President Trump’s assertions on North Korea. What is your take on the disconnect between the president and his handpicked intel and security chiefs?
VJ: Kim sends friendly letters to President Trump that flatter him — thereby, moving President Trump to take steps outside of his national security team, steps that are advantageous to the Kim regime because Trump does not escalate the pressure on Kim denuclearizing or offer hard evidence of ongoing steps toward denuclearization. TWD: Is Kim’s plan working? SEE JACK S ON • PAGE 6
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MARCH 2019 | THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT | 5