The President’s Asia Trip and the Korean Situation

A poignant shift in the president’s foreign relations towards North Korea occurred earlier this week. President Trump, after his secret DMZ trip to meet with North Korean officials was cancelled due to bad weather. Much to his frustration, the President proceeded to make a speech directed at the North Korean government in a threat reminiscent of Presidents of previous years towards the regime.

The threat did not follow in form to his previous threats made, rather they followed along a simple statement, warning the nations leader that his nuclear weapons were not making him stronger, but that “They are putting your regime in extreme danger”. The President went on to urge the Dictator to come to the table and discuss a arrangement, to ‘Make a Deal’”. When pressed by news caster he was quoted as saying “It makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal that is good for the people of North Korea and for the world.”

It was a striking shift in tone for a president who for months had issued increasingly dire threats to answer any hostile North Korean action with “fire and fury.” In a recent speech at the United Nations, Trump said he would “totally destroy” the nation, if necessary, and has derided Kim as “little Rocket Man.” It was a starling addition of optimism that caught many off guard.

Trump went further, arranging meetings with world leader Vladimir Putin to discuss the threat, saying that Putin was “Trying very hard to solve the problem”, and urging the worlds nation to collectively work together “to isolate the brutal regime of Korea”. Trump is determined that this issue has not been properly addressed over the past 25 years, and that immediate action must be taken as he is “Threatening millions of lives so needlessly.” This comment is derived from the discovery that North Korea now has nukes not only capable of hitting NATO allies, but the East coast of the United states itself.

“The United States remains committed to the complete, verifiable and permanent ‘de-nuclearization’ of the Korean Peninsula,” Former Lead Security Adviser, General McMaster said last week. “President Trump will reiterate the plain fact that North Korea threatens not just our allies, South Korea and Japan, and the United States. North Korea is a threat to the entire world. So all nations of the world must do more to counter that threat.” McMaster was a security adviser for the Asian sphere, specifically Korea, during the Obama administration and is applauding Trump’s more decisive and abrasive method of dealing with Korea than in previous presidencies.

The remainder of the speech he went on to talk about the evils of the Korean regime and the horrible lives of those living within North Korea, all of which cannot be stated enough but at this point is more than common knowledge. What many are curios of, especially if they have not been following politics, is why Trump would reel back so hard on the calling for complete annihilation of the country and the people he’s now generating empathy for.

For the many who do not know, North Korea has a history of capturing U.S citizens and holding them essentially for ransom, a bargaining chip against the U.S government. The most recent victim, Otto Warmbier, was held for 17 months and was turned over into U.S custody comatose. The man died not two weeks later after his return, and soon after Trump’s mocked “Fire and Fury” quote was released to the public.

Trump’s hasty and abrasive ‘Utter annihilation’ dialogue was more of a result of the death of a U.S citizen, but after talking with his professional advisers for over a month, came up with this approach to attempt to peacefully resolve the issue. Trump seems determined to dismantle the regime within his presidency, but he now says that military annihilation will be the last of the last resorts.