True denuclearization of Korean Peninsula takes away US deterrence against China: Analyst

A true denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the last thing that US President Donald Trump will ask from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un when the two leaders meet next month, says an American analyst.

Myles Hoenig, a political and social activist who ran for US Congress in 2016, said Sunday that the US has also stored nuclear weapons in its South Korean bases and removing them would take away what Washington thinks is its biggest deterrent against China.

The Baltimore-based analyst made the remarks after Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said on Sunday that Washington wanted to take away Pyongyang’s ballistic missiles as well as its nuclear weapons.

As part of the process, Bolton told ABC News Pyongyang was required to allow all of its nuclear and missile development sites to be inspected.

The nuclear weapons will be then taken to Oakridge, Tennessee, where the US will oversee their destruction, the former US envoy to the UN added.

“The last thing that Bolton, Trump and the Deep State would want to see come out of the summit between Trump and Kim is a denuclearized Korean Peninsula,” Hoenig told Press TV.

“What’s never discussed on main stream media, and therefore not even considered by the general public, is that denuclearization includes removing South Korea of nuclear weapons, something the US could never see itself doing,” he argued.

“Reducing the US nuclear arsenal is both bad for business and would no longer be a perceived deterrent against the US corporations’ most dangerous foe, China,” he explained.

North Korea is not likely to accept such an offer either as it would take away the only deterrence it has against a possible military aggression, Hoenig argued.

"The US never attacks countries that have a fighting chance to defend themselves,” he said.

PressTV-North Korea must give up missiles and nukes: Bolton

John Bolton says North Korea must lose both its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles if it wants to become a “normal” country.

Bolton said in his interview that until North Korea begins the work on denuclearization the Trump administration was not going to change its current strategy, which is based on economic pressure and increasing military presence on the Korean Peninsula.

Pyongyang is warming up to the idea of denuclearization and has already announced that it would dismantle a major nuclear test site by the end of May.

Hoenig said Kim might have decided to denuclearize as a result of pressure from China, its main trade partner.

“Most likely it is China that’s the main player in North Korea’s decisions to engage with Trump, as China is its main benefactor,” he further noted.

The Trump administration has gone as far as imposing sanctions on Chinese entities in his push to win support from Chinese leaders.

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