Indonesian Researcher Analyses Why Washington Agreed to the 2018 Trump-Kim Summit in Singapore

A paper by Riza Mahardika, S.Sos, M.Med.Kom, uses a systemic approach to international relations to explain the United States' decision to meet North Korea over denuclearisation.

JAKARTA, Indonesia, 21 October 2026 - A study by Indonesian communication researcher Riza Mahardika, S.Sos, M.Med.Kom, examines why the United States agreed to hold a summit with North Korea in Singapore in 2018. The paper, "International System Analysis of US Foreign Policy: Denuclearization Policy as a Showcase of the United States Summit with North Korea in 2018", treats the meeting as a case study in how foreign policy responds to pressure from the wider international system.

The historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took place on Sentosa Island, Singapore, on 12 June 2018. The paper notes that it was the first time a North Korean leader had met a sitting US president.

The study asks a single question: why was the United States willing to conduct a summit with a country it had long treated as a principal rival?

According to the paper, relations between the two leaders in the 18 months before the summit swung between hostility and the threat of war. The US president vowed to "totally destroy" North Korea if it threatened the United States and its allies, while Kim declared that his country had become a nuclear state, with missiles claimed to be able to reach US territory.

The turning point, the paper records, came in early 2018, when North Korea began improving relations with South Korea by sending teams and delegates to the Winter Olympics. In March, Trump accepted an invitation from Kim, delivered through Seoul, to meet in person.

The study places the summit in a longer history. It traces worsening relations since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s and reviews key moments, including:

• the 1994 Agreed Framework, under which North Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear programme at Yongbyon in return for assistance
• North Korea's admission in 2002 that it had secretly continued developing that programme
• its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003

To explain the shift in US policy, the paper combines three frameworks: foreign policy theory viewed through a systemic approach, the link between foreign policy and national interest and security, and the influence of the international environment on policy change. It draws on scholars including Barry Buzan, Robert Jervis, Charles Hermann and Scott Sagan.

The research is qualitative and explanatory. It relies on secondary sources, including speeches by representatives of the United States, North Korea and South Korea, official documents, books, journal articles, research reports and newspapers.

The paper's hypothesis is that the United States was willing to meet North Korea because of dynamics within the international system. Allied countries, it argues, act as an external environment for policymakers, which produced a more cooperative pattern in dealing with North Korea's nuclear issue during the Trump administration.

The study also records how fragile the road to Singapore was. It describes how the meeting was almost cancelled after White House security adviser John Bolton suggested that North Korea follow the "Libyan model" of disarmament. The paper quotes Trump as saying on 17 May 2018 that Kim "will remain in his country, he will continue to run his government, and his country will be very prosperous".

"Foreign policy is never static," said Riza Mahardika, S.Sos, M.Med.Kom, communication researcher. "The Singapore summit shows how a superpower adjusts its course when the international system around it changes. Pressure from allies, diplomacy on the Korean peninsula and the nuclear question all pushed Washington towards the negotiating table."

Notes to editors

About the research: "International System Analysis of US Foreign Policy: Denuclearization Policy as a Showcase of the United States Summit with North Korea in 2018" is a qualitative, explanatory study written in English by Riza Mahardika, S.Sos, M.Med.Kom. It uses secondary data and a systemic approach to foreign policy analysis.

About Riza Mahardika: Riza Mahardika, M.Med.Kom, is a communication researcher and digital strategist, and the founder of RizaHub (https://rizahub.com).