U.S. won't bring up North Korea's human rights issues at Singapore summit

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/u-s-won-t-bring-north-korea-s-human-rights-n880986

When Trump meets Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Tuesday, he will be sitting down with the leader of one of the most brutal and repressive regimes in modern history — a country that has committed "unspeakable atrocities" on a vast scale in a manner reminiscent of Nazi Germany, according to a 2014 United Nations investigation.

But two administration officials tell NBC News the U.S. has decided not to bring up human rights at the summit. And Trump has made clear he would be willing to offer security guarantees and financial aid to Kim if he gives up his nuclear arsenal.

"This would be with Kim Jong Un something where ... he'd be running his country," Trump said last month. "If we make a deal, I think Kim Jong Un is going to be very, very happy."

Trump put it more starkly than his predecessors, but he is following decades of U.S. policy that has prioritized addressing North Korea's nuclear threat over holding the regime accountable for the murder, torture, rape and starvation it has perpetrated against its own citizens.