Let DPRK come in from the cold

United States President Donald Trump cut short his meeting with Democratic People's Republic of Korea top leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi on Thursday by walking away, but he could still agree to a simple Washington-Pyongyang peace accord at a later date.

And if Trump does that and lifts the US sanctions against the DPRK, the two countries could establish trade and economic relations to their mutual benefit. That would lead to economic reform in the DPRK, which would open up its economy, allowing foreign investment to flow into the country. That in turn would lead to an economic boom and better livelihoods for DPRK citizens. And nobody will have the time to risk all of this by playing around with nuclear weapons.

"From Pyongyang's perspective, a peace treaty is the next step," said Rudi Sirr, special economic adviser to the DPRK and chairman of the Daegian Pte Ltd, which manages the Rajin port complex in the DPRK that serves as a gateway to the Pacific and a land route to Europe connecting the economies of China, Mongolia, Russia, the Republic of Korea, Japan as well as the DPRK.