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> Only one major change has taken place Trump taking office? You don't think this has anything to do with the fact that the DPRK now has a working ICBM and the

• cryptonector 8y ago
  Not at all. Their project to make ICBMs and nukes goes back to the early 90s. It culminated recently, yes, but it's not like Trump was elected and Kim went all like "oh no, they elected Trump, let's go make nukes and show them how much we dislike Trump!". Without the DPRK's ICBM and nuclear weapons program there would have been no negotiations in 1994 (under Clinton), not in the aughts (under Bush), and not now (under Trump). EDIT: They never needed nukes. Vietnam has no nukes and we've all left them alone. Iraq would have been left alone had Hussein not invaded Kuwait. Afghanistan would have been left alone had 9/11 not happened or had the Taliban turned over bin Laden. And so on. We don't yet know what the DPRK will get out of this. So far it seems like "security guarantees". Probably also money and such, but in any verifiable nuclear disarmament by the DPRK all of such concessions are one-time. I'm shocked they're even offering anything given that once they give up the nukes they give up all leverage, but it goes to show that we (Trump!) have something even stronger leverage: we can starve the DPRK into submission because we can hurt China in the pocket book, and everyone believes that Trump means to do these things.