Since his election in May, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea has been something of an odd man out in Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign on North Korea, calling again and again for talks as President Trump was threatening “fire and fury.” At one point, Mr. Trump even accused him of “appeasement.” But Mr. Moon’s persistence suddenly appears to be paying off.
Mr. Trump’s head-spinning decision to accept an invitation to meet with Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, amounts to a remarkable diplomatic coup for Mr. Moon, who engineered the rapprochement in a whirlwind of diplomacy that began at the Winter Olympics last month and gained momentum faster than perhaps even he had anticipated.
Mr. Trump’s head-spinning decision to accept an invitation to meet with Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, amounts to a remarkable diplomatic coup for Mr. Moon, who engineered the rapprochement in a whirlwind of diplomacy that began at the Winter Olympics last month and gained momentum faster than perhaps even he had anticipated.
