Why Is Trump Antagonizing South Korea?

As Trump becomes more fixated on the epic failure of his domestic policies, he comes more and more dangerous in the foreign policy arena where he has far more leeway. This week, his focus has been on potentially starting a trade war with Canada and demands to renegotiate NAFTA. Last night, it was the threat of a “major, major conflict with North Korea”. And today, incredibly, Trump goes after the South Koreans, threatening to cancel the US trade deal with that country and wanting to “charge” the South Koreans $1 billion for the missile defense system the US just installed there. Considering the US will need as much help as the South Korean’s can muster, this seems like a bizarre approach to dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with representatives from South Korea and Japan, probably in another attempt to reassure them about what the US is actually planning to do. The South Koreans apparently already understand that Trump is just bluffing as usual and they scoffed at his trade and missile defense threats. But this is also what top administration officials spend their time doing these days – convincing Trump not to do something inconceivably stupid and reckless and reassuring our allies that, despite his words, he will not. As one Trump insider said, “If you’re an adviser to him, your job is to help him at the margins. To talk him out of doing crazy things.”

This is one of many dust-ups and faux-pas that Trump has committed when dealing with South Korea. There was the issue of using the words “Sea of Japan” in an official government statement and then having President Xi explain that Korea was never “part of China”. Like his mistreatment of Australia, all these incidents do is force our Asian allies to rethink their foreign policy and drive them into the lap of China.

Speaking of China, there seems to be this assumption that the Chinese have enormous sway over the North Koreans and that only South Korea and Japan are threatened by Kim Jung Un. But there are plenty of populous cities in China that are within reach of North Korea’s new missiles. If the Chinese exert too much pressure, the North Korean’s focus could switch on to them. So, in some ways, it is in the Chinese interests to have Kim focused on Trump and the USA. And that is especially true when Trump continues to alienate our Asian allies and make them rethink their relationship with China.