Tag: Donald Trump

Experts Say South Korea Needs to Make a “Diplomatic Buffer Zone” In Case Donald Trump Gets Elected

South Korea is already working on a “diplomatic buffer zone” with the early renegotiation of the USFK upkeep in case Trump does get elected:

With Donald Trump cruising to a rematch with United States President Joe Biden in the presidential election in November, the world, including South Korea, is preparing for a possible second Trump presidency, which is anticipated to force many countries to recalibrate their diplomatic strategies.

Throughout last year, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has concentrated on strengthening its alliance with the U.S. to an unprecedented level, aligning South Korea’s diplomatic stance with its traditional ally on most issues, including sensitive ones such as the war between Ukraine and Russia.

Experts said, however, that South Korea this year will have to focus on securing a “diplomatic buffer zone” to prepare for a possible second Trump presidency, which is expected to force Seoul to shoulder a greater amount of the cost of maintaining U.S. Forces Korea’s (USFK) presence on the peninsula and make greater efforts for containing China. The speculation that Trump may condone North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons is also a concern for Seoul, which has been striving to stymie Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions through U.S. extended deterrence.

“In terms of the relations with the U.S., the top agenda item that South Korea should focus on this year would be creating a diplomatic buffer zone for requests that Washington may make under a possible second Trump presidency in 2025,” said Lee Geun, professor of international politics at Seoul National University’s (SNU) Graduate School of International Studies.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Trump Claims America was Safe From North Korea During his Presidency

I don’t think safe is the word; more like better behaved:

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday boasted his personal ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that he had built during his presidency, stressing America was “safe” then.

Trump made the remarks during a rally in Indianola, Iowa, on the eve of the first vote of the Republican Party’s nomination contest in the lead-off state. Hours earlier, Pyongyang fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea in its first missile launch this year.

“Kim Jong-un (is) very smart, very tough, but he liked me and I got along really well with him and we were safe,” Trump said during a live-streamed speech.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

New Book Claims that Trump Wanted to Launch Nuclear Attack on North Korea

This seems like one of these incidents where Trump says something outlandish to be funny or elicit a reaction and the media runs with it like he is seriously going to do it:

President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un stand on North Korean soil while walking to South Korea in the Demilitarized Zone on June 30, 2019, in Panmunjom, Korea.

Behind closed doors in 2017, President Donald Trump discussed the idea of using a nuclear weapon against North Korea and suggested he could blame a U.S. strike against the communist regime on another country, according to a new section of a book that details key events of his administration.

Trump’s alleged comments, reported for the first time in a new afterword to a book by New York Times Washington correspondent Michael Schmidt, came as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un escalated, alarming then-White House chief of staff John Kelly.

NBC News

You can read more at the link.

Former Defense Secretary Mattis Says Trump’s Personal Diplomacy with Kim Jong-un Accomplished Nothing

Yes Trump’s personal diplomacy may not have led to any long term solutions for the North Korea problem, but neither has any of his predecessors plans lead to anything either:

Donald Trump’s unconventional summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018 and 2019 produced nothing, former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said at a forum here Friday.

The United States under Trump’s presidency was “not traditional for what America’s role has been in the world,” the retired Marine general and former head of Central Command said at a gathering hosted by the Seoul Forum for International Affairs, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Korea Society in Seoul.

The two nations were threatening war in 2017, but Kim and Trump emerged friends from their 2018 summit in Singapore, trading “love letters” afterwards. The two met again the following year in Hanoi, Vietnam, and at the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea.

Trump hailed the meetings as momentous developments, but foreign policy experts widely criticized them for failing to produce any agreements between the two countries.

“As far as what came out of it, I would say nothing,” Mattis said of the summits. “I saw nothing that came out of it.”

In 2020, North Korea resumed missile tests and its bellicose statements aimed at the U.S. and South Korea. North Korea has so far this year launched 17 rounds of missile tests, a one-year record.

“President Trump was an unusual leader” who believed in “personal diplomacy,” Mattis said.

“He was convinced that he could work something out with Kim — I was not optimistic,” he added. “My job was to make certain I did everything I could to stand by the [South Korean] Ministry of Defense and make certain the U.S. military … ties were absolutely at the top of their game to ensure that we were buying the time to safely engage in that summit.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Trump Calls President Moon a Weak Leader and Negotiator

It appeared that when Trump was in office he did not have a good relationship with Moon and his latest remarks validate this:

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump at the InterContinental Barclay hotel during the United Nations General Assembly on Sep. 23, 2019, in New York. AP-Yonhap

Former president Donald Trump on Friday accused his South Korean counterpart of ripping off the United States, while continuing to highlight his supposed friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

“Kim Jong-un of North Korea, who I have gotten to know (and like) under the most trying of circumstances, never respected the current President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in,” Trump said in a statement.

“President Moon was weak as a leader and as a negotiator, except when it came to the continued, long term military ripoff of the USA… We were treated like fools for decades, however, I got them to pay billions of dollars more for the military protection and services we render.”

“The Biden Administration is not even going to ask for the additional billions South Korea agreed to pay us,” Trump added, referring to current President Joe Biden.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Trump Reportedly Offered Kim Jong-un a Ride on Air Force One After Hanoi Summit

This shows how little President Trump understands the Kim regime. Having an American President taking him home makes Kim look weak and goes against the carefully crafted image that Kim projects in North Korea. There is just no way he could have accepted that offer:

President Donald Trump offered North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a ride home on Air Force One after the two met for a second time at a summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019, a new BBC documentary has reported.

The three-part series, titled “Trump Takes on the World,” discloses new details about Trump and Kim’s ultimately unsuccessful negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program.

Business Insider

You can read more at the link.

Kim Jong-un Wishes President Trump A Quick Recovery After Being Infected with the Coronavirus

Kim Jong-un has done two nice acts the past couple of weeks, he apologized for the brutal murder his troops committed and he now is wishing President Trump well after being infected with the coronavirus:

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as they meet at the Freedom House on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas, on June 30, 2019. (Yonhap)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a message to U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, wishing him and first lady Melania Trump a quick recovery from COVID-19, state media reported.

The message came a day after Trump tweeted that he and his wife tested positive for the virus.

In the message, Kim said he “heard the sudden news” that Trump and his wife tested positive for the virus, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

“He offered his sympathy to the president and the first lady,” the KCNA said. “He sincerely hoped that they would be recovered as soon as possible. He hoped they will surely overcome it. He sent warm greetings to them.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this statement even more convinced that the North Koreans have no plans to commit an October surprise provocation to influence the U.S. election.