Ex-defense secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta says the “dominance of personalities” between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un isn’t the problem — or solution — to issues on the Korean peninsula.
In an interview that aired Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week," the Obama-era official said the June summit was “all about show.”
“I think we have a failed summit on our hands right now, and there is a long list of failed efforts throughout history,” he said. “This may be another one of those, and the problem is that in many ways, it was doomed to failure from the beginning because there was never the proprietary work that has to be done prior to a summit meeting.”
“This was all about show, shaking hands and exchanging words,” he said.
The “hard work” remains, he said.
“This isn't about the dominance of personalities,” Panetta said. “This is about the hard work of negotiating the solution to the differences between North Korea and United States and South Korea. There have been issues here, but none of that work has been done.”
“We don't know where the nuclear sites are,” he continued. “We don't know where the missile sites are, or where a lot of their chemical sites are located. We have not developed a regime. All of that needs to be on the table. That's what needs to be discussed and we have yet to have a serious meeting on those issues. That's the problem.”
Panetta also weighed in on whether Democrats should move ahead on impeachment of Trump if the party regains a majority in the House.
“I think the most important thing that the Democrats could do is to allow [special counsel] Bob Mueller to complete his work,” he said. “I think Bob Mueller's report will ultimately determine whether or not there are going to be additional steps taken against the president, and they ought not to get ahead of that report because that will be the key to determining what happens in the future. “
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