Prioritizing Denuclearization News Today

Out of that in respect of arms control. >> how should do you think the u.s. approach denuclearization in this initial meeting? >> north koreans will not give up their nuclear weapons anytime in the near future, but president trump cannot admit that. so it will be aspirational. both parties will say we are working towards denuclearization, we are going to try to get rid of all nuclear weapons, but it wont be an immediate thing. they will have to be immediate objectives and i suspect some of those...

Include japanese abductees would be another example. biochem weapons, conventional weapons. it does get overcrowded. so i dont blame them for prioritizing denuclearization and security at the highest. >> one of the dangers of embracing kim jong-un as a statesman, veteran security experts warn that president trump, moon jae-in and their allies could lose sight of kims ultimate objective, staying in power. and they worry the leaders kim is dealing with will look past the fact hell do anything to s...

Doesnt plan on going to june 12 and signing a deal, this is a get to know you process. certainly the goal from the u.s. is to get all the weapons out of north korea, all those nuclear weapons. no indication of how quickly they think that could happen or how exactly they incentivize north korea to agree to that without a major concession like a troop drawdown or withdrawal from the korean peninsula which youve heard u.s. officials say is not on the table when it comes to these negotiations concer...

Kim jong-un has been quite desperate. >> most important, he now has the weapons. he has the weapons. and he has the delivery system. so he feels more confident. >> fueling kims confidence, the fact that the u.s., south korea and china have been willing to look past his egregious human rights violations. >> we did not talk about human rights. >> youre talking about 5 to 6 political prison camps. 120,000 men, women and children held in political prison camps, pursuant with system of guilt by assoc...

120,000 men, women and children held in political prison camps pursuant to a system of guilt by association, induced malnutrition, torture, public executions, secret executions. you are talking about a regime that is investing heavily in its tools of death. >> reporter: a record that a veteran diplomat says trump and his ald llies might have to loo past to reach the ultimate objective. >> if we are to lower the agenda to include denuclearization, human rights, wed have to include japanese abduct...

His allies might have to look past to reach the ultimate objective. >> if we are to lower the agenda to include denuclearization, human rights, then we have to include japanese abductees would be another example, bio chem weapons, conventional weapons, it does get overcrowded. i dont blame them for prioritizing denuclearization at the highest. >> reporter: what are the dangers? veteran security experts warn that president trump, moon jae-in, and their allies could lose sight of kims ultimate obj...

Number two man made an impression, and will it be lasting? >> reporter: well, yes. certainly, you know, kim yong chol getting a fancy dinner new york, getting permission to travel to washington to deliver that letter, a letter considered the highest form of communication, the most respectful way to communicate with another world leader, so a letter from kim jong-un to president trump is a big deal for the north koreans. but as far as how this meet willing go in singapore, its an open question, w...

Singapore right now. they need a venue and security. what are you seeing on the ground? >> reporter: so we know that there is a north korean delegation here along with an american delegation. they are handling logistics, trying to finalize things like where the summit will happen, how long is it going to take place, you know, could it be over one day, could it go a number of days, what are the optics going to be like. and then theyre still having discussions about how the structure will be and w...

Political geopolitical summit of the century. >> michelle, what else are you hearing from your sources at the state department and elsewhere? >> nobody is hearing much as to what happened inside this meeting, but there are real doubts among our sources that the u.s. and north korea are anywhere near on the same page as to what denuclearization is. we have seen some bending on the u.s. side as to what theyre willing, obviously, to have north korea present before a summit can take place. also the ...

One, the republic of koreas invitation to have them there and the discussions between the united states and the republic of korea separate and distinct from the negotiations that where going on with dprk. >> lets break all of this down now with alexandra field following the story in seoul. the summit is back on again, the optic seem promising for sure. but as for the details on things like denuclearization, did anything of substance really come out of this? >> reporter: right, those details, geo...