Trump doesn't see 'the big picture' on how to handle North Korea, says military analyst

Read Story Transcript

While one military analyst sees "tangible evidence" of a "ratcheting down of tensions" between the U.S. and North Korea, he worries that the rogue state will benefit without making nuclear concessions.

"If the exchange is going to be economic help to North Korea ... without really any tangible evidence of a denuclearization then I'm afraid that that really is playing into what exactly Kim Jong-un wants," said William Arkin, a military analyst and columnist for the Guardian.

Arkin told The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti that if the U.S. lifts economic sanctions in the hope of compliance on nuclear disarmament, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could see his regime not only recognized by the international community, butstrengthened.

"I'm hoping that we can separate the economic from the military and achieve the military results first, but I am afraid that Donald Trump is not the man who necessarily sees the big picture, in order to achieve that," he said.

Trump met with Kim in Hanoi Wednsday, sayinghe thought this summit "will be equal or greater than the first." Speaking through an interpreter, Kim said he is "confident of achieving the great results that everyone will welcome."

They first met last June in Singapore, after months of barbed exchanges, in which Trump referred to Kim as "little rocket man" on Twitter.

Trump hopes summit with Kim will be 'equal or greater' than first

6 years ago

Duration 0:29

The U.S. president and North Korean leader met for their second face-to-face summit in Vietnam.

Trump wants Kim to agree to dismantle his nuclear sites in a verifiable way, whileKim is seeking relief from crushing U.S. sanctions hobbling his economy.

Arkin said there "has already been a backing off of military confrontation," which gives him "hope that that will open the door for the diplomats and for the specialists to come in and begin to negotiate."

However, North Korea expert Sung-Yoon Lee warned that there have been "extended periods of non-testing, non-provocations" before.

"These lulls, these periods of no major provocation, do not necessarily mean they're not working assiduously at enhancing their nuclear capability," said Lee, the Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor in Korean studies and an assistant professor at the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

"If that's victory, slightly over a year of non-flagrant violations ... then I guess George W. Bush and Barack Obama deserve maybe three Nobel Peace Prizes each."

Click 'listen' near the top of this page to hear the full conversation.

Written by Padraig Moran, with files from CBC News. Produced by Howard Goldenthal and Idella Sturino.