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US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump commemorate the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, on June 25. (AP/Yonhap News)

The memoir of former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton, “The Room Where It Happened,” is a bitter account on multiple fronts. He repeatedly illustrates the extent of the gap in perception between the US and North Korea on denuclearization and sanctions relief during their three summits. Bolton highlights US President Donald Trump’s focus on how much the summits would improve his image in the media and whether they would help him during his reelection campaign – a stark contrast to North Korea’s urgent focus on survival and South Korea’s equally pressing desire for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Bolton - an extreme hardliner who walked out of the negotiation room after ending the US-North Korea Geneva agreement in the 2000s - bitterly reveals in detail what happened during the summits. North Korea hates Bolton so much that it has called him “human garbage”. It’s therefore no surprise that Bolton participated in the historical US-North Korean summits as a “disrupter.”

The triangular relationship between South Korea, North Korea, and the US draw particular attention in Bolton’s book. Despite strong suspicions about North Korea’s willingness to denuclearize among members of the US administration, the friendship between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un never seems to have faltered. During the Hanoi summit in February 2019, Bolton recalls that Kim said he did not want Trump to be harmed politically after Trump told the North Korean leader that he could lose the election if he accepted Kim’s proposal. Trump caused controversy after tweeting an order for the Department of the Treasury to rescind an announcement regarding sanctions on North Korea after the failed Hanoi summit. The order was part of efforts to maintain his relationship with Kim, with Trump even telling his staff that the tweet was “just for one person” (Kim).

While it is fortunate that the relationship between the two leaders never fell apart, they are not in a situation where they can meet at a moment’s notice. Trump is focused on his reelection campaign and seems to feel there is no need to meet Kim without any clear success on bringing North Korea closer to denuclearization. Even if North Korea were to yield and attempt to engage in dialogue with the US, the Democratic and Republican parties will tell Trump not to “fall for North Korea’s showmanship.”

Another interesting part of Bolton’s book is the role of South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Several scenes of Moon “fighting alone” appear throughout the book amid clearly difficult circumstances: Trump’s focus on America’s financial gain and whether the summits will help his own chances for reelection; hardliners like Bolton who treat South Korea’s efforts to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula as just being part of a dismissible “unification” agenda; and the Japanese, who whisper into the Americans’ ears ceaselessly about putting as much pressure as possible on North Korea.

After the failed Hanoi summit, Moon visited the White House and suggested to Trump that he try to bring about a third US-North Korea summit in Panmunjom or on a US naval vessel. Moon also admitted to Trump that the two Koreas have failed to conduct any meaningful dialogue because North Korea believes that South Korea is on America’s side. While Trump tried to change the subject, Moon persistently explained that Kim wanted the US to provide security guarantees for his government. Moon also had Chung Eui-yong, director of Blue House National Security Office, emphasize to the White House that the dismantling of the Yongbyon nuclear complex would be an important first-step in achieving “irreversible denuclearization.”

Bolton criticized these South Korean efforts as nothing more than Moon’s attempt to get his picture taken with the other leaders and his “schizophrenia.” Moon, however, focused on mediating between the two countries despite such criticism from White House staff. Kim Yo-jong, first deputy director of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee, has recently criticized Moon’s “avoidance of responsibility and deep-rooted flunkeyism.” Bolton’s memoir, however, has clearly shown who North Korea needs to respect and work with to achieve its goals. Perhaps Kim has suspended military action against South Korea after reading Bolton’s book?

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

Caption: US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump commemorate the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, on June 25. (Yonhap News)