{"id":4147,"date":"2019-03-22T10:45:33","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T01:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=4147"},"modified":"2019-03-22T15:55:56","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T06:55:56","slug":"expectations-foolish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2019\/03\/recommendations\/expectations-foolish\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cInside N. Korea\uff1e \"Our expectations were foolish\"...Trade Officials Disappointed by Breakdown at Hanoi Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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State-run media described the North Korea-U.S. talks as a great achievement by Kim Jong-un and did not use the term \u2018breakdown\u2019. Pictured, Kim Jong-un reading his New Year\u2019s Address, as televised by the Chosun Central Broadcasting System on January 1, 2019<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6It would have been better to threaten the U.S. than to have the summit\u2026<\/h2>\n

When talks ended in failure at the summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un in late February, North Korean business executives and trade officials who had hoped to be able to export once again to China were left bitterly disappointed. (Kang Ji-won)<\/p>\n

According to a reporting partner living in Yangang Province, who spoke with ASIAPRESS on March 7, information about the failure of the Hanoi summit is spreading, especially among traders who expected an end to the sanctions.<\/p>\n

Next page : The summit was a failure. Those Americans don\u2019t care about easing our lives\u2026 <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

An official of the \u201cBaekdu Miryeong Company\u201d, when asked by the reporting partner, expressed his disappointment, lamenting, \u201cThe summit was a failure. Those Americans don\u2019t care about easing our lives. It was foolish to expect anything from the summit in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The official, while criticizing the United States, also expressed dissatisfaction with the \u2018failure\u2019 of the North Korean authorities, saying, \u201cOur nuclear capability is our single greatest advantage. Not leveraging that to make a deal was a mistake. It would have been better to threaten the U.S. with our nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Party and administration officials are also well aware of the summit\u2019s outcome. According to the reporting partner, they are discouraged, with one complaining, \u201cDuring the Kim Jong-il era, we conducted missile tests and received much food aid from the United States. But, this time, it didn\u2019t work out that way.\u201d For now, however, there is an atmosphere of restraint, as North Koreans refrain from expressing their criticism of the U.S. or their dissatisfaction with the authorities.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there is still hope that, after Kim Jong-un returns home, trade with China will improve. In addition, there is much interest in whether new government measures will be announced, especially those concerning the domestic industries for construction materials and auto parts.<\/p>\n

As North Korean traders hang on the words of customs officials, state-run media outlets are declaring the Hanoi summit as another one of Kim Jong-un\u2019s achievements. Despite these proclamations, trade companies and the Pyongyang elite are being hit hard, with the U.N. Security Council sanctions that reduced North Korea\u2019s 2018 exports by about 90 percent, remaining in effect.<\/p>\n

\u203bASIAPRESS contacts its reporting partners through Chinese mobile phones smuggled into North Korea.<\/p>\n

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