Former envoy to North Korea talks thinks "Kim Jong Un is hurting"
The economic sanctions against North Korea may be having the desired effect, the former U.S. envoy to the six-party talks with North Korea South Korea, Ambassador Joseph DeTrani told former CIA acting Director Michael Morell this week.
"I think Kim Jong Un is hurting," DeTrani tells Morell in an interview on the newly relaunched podcast "Intelligence Matters," produced by CBS News. DeTrani argues that effective sanctions imposed by countries like China, coupled with impressive U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, proved to be a persuasive combination.
"I give the president lots of credit for bringing him to the table," DeTrani says, adding that Kim may be feeling both confident and risk-tolerant because he feels he has a deployable nuclear deterrent and that President Trump is pursuing a novel kind of diplomacy.
Their conversation covers the escalating stakes and varied regional interests behind the upcoming US-North Korea summit, what Kim Jong Un may be thinking – and willing to concede – and what President Trump must achieve in the leaders' historic and highly-anticipated meeting.
Morell and DeTrani also discuss what the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement may mean for forthcoming negotiations with North Korea, with whether Kim thinks he can strike a deal in a single face-to-face meeting with the American president.