President Donald Trump needs to kick start stalled talks between the United States and North Korea by getting tough with leader Kim Jong Un, Gordon Chang, an Asian affairs expert and Daily Beast columnist, told Newsmax TV on Monday.
"President Trump I think had great expectations . . . he looked at this is sort of like, 'if I can establish friendly relations with Kim Jong Un, then things will work out,'" Chang told Monday's "The Brett Winterble Show."
But after his sitdown with Kim in June to discuss the nuclear disarmament of North Korea and the possible opening of new economic deals with the United States, Chang said, Trump "squandered the advantage – he let up the pressure."
"We're letting up on sanctions . . . so, of course, the North Koreans think that they can get away with murder. And that's what they're doing," Chang said.
"[Trump] has to go back to what made him successful in the first half of this year."
And that includes the restoration of military training exercises with South Korea which Trump suspended in a nod to Kim.
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Trump must "make life miserable" for the North Koreans, according to Chang.
"Although that's unfortunate, that's the only thing that's going to get the North Koreans to behave responsibly," he said.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that Trump has privately expressed frustration over the lack of progress on the United States' talks with North Korea.
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