Trump-Kim Jong-un Meeting—An ‘October Surprise?’

July 3, 2020 (EIRNS)—The Trump Administration’s point man for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, is scheduled to travel to South Korea for meetings on July 7 regarding efforts to revive U.S. talks with North Korea before the November election in the U.S., according to sources in Seoul, Reuters reports. Biegun, who is now the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, is reported to have said there is time for both sides to re-engage and “make substantial progress,” but the coronavirus pandemic would make an in-person summit difficult before the November election.

Two former CIA Korea-hands, Jung Pak and Sue Mi Terry, told a virtual forum at Georgetown Center for Strategic and International Studies yesterday, that President Donald Trump is considering an “October surprise” meeting with North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. The detestable former National Security Advisor John Bolton, meeting with reporters on Thursday, also suggested such a meeting is in the works, adding (as he did in his book) that Trump has no intention to make a deal with Kim Jong-un, but only meets as a “publicity stunt.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office said this week that Moon has encouraged Trump to renew talks with the North, and that this proposal is being considered in Washington.