[quote=@catchamber]What exactly is there to be had by a sitting President visiting Kim Jong-un, versus sending some other official to speak on their behalf? Alternatively, can't the USA just sit back and watch the North Korean people turn against their leader because he put them in a fucked up situation, then send a dignitary to speak to the new leaders?
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Refugee crisis mostly, is the reason we don't wanna do that. If the Kim dynasty fails, for all its bullshit, that's actually [b]way[/b] worse for the global economy. Well, China and ROK's economy, but mostly China, and therefore the world. Now that's not, you know, non-starter -- the DPRK with nuke-capable ICBMs (they don't quite have that yet) would be worse. It's worth sitting down with the guy if we go in with the objective of trying to avoid either of those two outcomes.