NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A week ago, things could not have been going better for President Moon Jae-in of South Korea. He was successfully arranging a meeting between North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and President Trump. His approval ratings at home were soaring. The tone had changed so much that Mr. Trump had even called Mr. Kim ‘very honorable.’ Now, the matchmaking role that has defined Mr. Moon’s presidency is in doubt. After months of unusual bonhomie, North Korea withdrew on Wednesday [5-16-18] from talks with South Korea and threatened to cancel the planned June 12 summit meeting between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump, which Mr. Moon’s aides have spent months trying to set up. For Mr. Moon, the North’s reversal brought home the difficulties in playing matchmaker between his country’s most fearsome foe and its most important ally, two countries run by impulsive and often unpredictable leaders.”
-Choe Sang-Hun, “North Korea’s Sudden Shift Puts South’s Leader on the Spot,” The New York Times online, May 17, 2018