Trump tries his 'art of the deal' on Pyongyang

SO-CALLED "secret negotiations" are reportedly underway, it seems, between the US and North Korea. The outcome of these clandestine talks is of critical - possibly even existential - importance to North-east Asia, as well as to the rest of the world.

The recent lull in Pyongyang's ballistic missile firing activities and in the war of words between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump is a welcome side effect of these negotiations, although it is far from certain that they will be successful. Mr Trump sees himself as a consummate master of the "art of the deal"; and by pulling off a deal with Mr Kim, he could show himself to be smarter in this regard than former US presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton. These are powerful incentives for compromise on his part.

What might such a compromise look like? It would have to acknowledge North Korea's nominal right to possess nuclear weapons - the Kim dynasty will not compromise on that - but it would also have to see that Pyongyang agrees to end its headlong pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. A deal would also require the US to offer diplomatic recognition to North Korea and to sign a formal peace treaty to replace the Armistice Agreement signed in 1953 by the US-led United Nations Command and representatives from North Korea and China. In return for some sort of multilateral monitoring of its nuclear programme, Pyongyang would no doubt demand that the heavy if not yet crippling UN economic sanctions against North Korea be lifted, and that US-South Korea joint military exercises on the Korean border be ended.