Trump's Attacks On South Korea Are A Gift To Kim Jong-un
Donald Trump’s latest response to North Korea’s latest provocation seems to play right into to Kim Jong-un’s hands. The North Korean leader is primarily focused on maintaining power, first and foremost, and the North Korean nuclear program is designed to protect him and his regime from outside forces. But, after maintaining power, the second item on Kim’s agenda is probably the reunification of Korea under his leadership. Trump’s comments and threats against South Korea are a gift that Kim could only dream about.
In addition to accusing the South Koreans of “appeasement” because of the new government’s willingness to simply talk to the North, Trump then threatened to withdraw from the US-South Korean trade deal because of that country’s trade surplus with the US. Yes, South Korea is probably guilty of some degree of protectionism but now is hardly the time to begin a row over trade with an ally that will be critical in negotiating some solution to the Korean nuclear problem. And the idea that the South Korean government is engaging in appeasement when it tries to talk with the North in order to protect hundreds of thousands of its own citizens from annihilation is pretty low even for Trump.
More importantly, Trump has created a wedge between the US and South Korea. We all know that Mattis and McMaster are telling their counterparts in South Korea that this is simply Trump being Trump. There have been no real preparations to withdraw from the trade deal. The talk of appeasement is more empty bluster just like his threat to cut off all trade with any country that does business with North Korea.
The South Koreans may understand what Mattis and McMaster are saying, but Kim Jong-un only sees that South Korea is being isolated by its most important ally. In his mind, an isolated South Korea will be much more pliant to his threats and brings the dream of reunification under Kim even closer. Never in his wildest dreams could Kim have believed his nuclear brinkmanship could accomplish so much. In fact, Trump’s attack on South Korea could be viewed as just the type of “appeasement” that encourages more nuclear threats from North Korea.
Finally, just imagine what every other country who looks to America as an important ally thinks when they see Trump attacking South Korea as a response to North Korea’s provocations. Trump’s long refusal to affirm Article V of the NATO treaty already made American’s allies suspicious of our resolve. Trump’s attacks on South Korea are certainly making all our allies even more queasy. But it is all part and parcel of Trump’s careless destruction of 75 years of American diplomacy.
