Trump Effect: North Korea READY TO TALK
After months of peacocking, Kim Jong-Un is caving to the pressures of stringent sanctions.
Early Tuesday morning, President Trump tweeted about this situation.
After Kim Jong-Un called for improved relations with South Korea, using the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as an opening, Trump had this to say.
Sanctions and “other” pressures are beginning to have a big impact on North Korea. Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not – we will see!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
Even Democrats recognize that the president’s handling of North Korea pays dividends.
https://twitter.com/SagaciousLawyer/status/948194565428862976
Why did Kim Jong-Un change his tune?
Though Kim Jong-Un did a bit of posturing, read between the lines for the real impact.
As CNN reported,
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held out a rare olive branch to the country’s southern neighbor Monday, offering talks over sending a delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next month.
Kim struck an unusually conciliatory note in his annual New Year’s Day address, declaring his wish “for peaceful resolution with our southern border.”
Think back on the last time Kim offered any kind gestures to South Korea. If you can’t come up with anything, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Because it’s never happened. Generally, Kim mostly threatens his neighbor to the south or the rest of the world. When the dictator isn’t shouting threats, he escalates tensions by testing nuclear bomb testing.
In the Era of Obama, these types of tactics were rewarded. The rogue regime got what it wanted. Under Trump however, things are different.
President Trump made it clear immediately that he would deal with the North Korean dictator like a stern father. Recall after North Korea performed a nuclear test–against U.N. rules–the president got China to cancel a North Korean coal shipment.
In a stroke of genius, President Trump shuffled the cards in a complex global order. He placed the United States firmly back on top.
As North Korea’s Kim Jong un saber-rattles over their nuclear arsenal, Trump used the opportunity to reinforce his commitment to “America First”. Not only has he involved China in dealing with North Korea, but he also was able to get coal miners back to work.
As CNN reported,
US President Donald Trump says China has turned a fleet of coal-carrying cargo ships back to North Korea this week, describing it as a “big step” towards cracking down on the rogue state.
China banned all imports of coal from North Korea in mid-February, soon after Pyongyang tested a new intermediate-range missile.
Almost all coal shipments to the Chinese city of Dandong, on the North Korean border, since February have been turned back, a source with knowledge of North Korean government operations in Dandong told CNN.
The ban followed strict, new sanctions imposed in November by the United Nations on North Korean coal exports, which China helped to draft and pass
Coal accounted for a third of all official North Korean exports in 2015, making up a large part of their income. China is by far North Korea’s largest trading partner.
When you consider “the art of the deal,” it just doesn’t get much better than that.
Next, Trump recently persuaded China to stop shipping oil to the regime and to buy its seafood elsewhere.
Oil and food, products North Korea sorely need.
As Fox News points out:
“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,” Trump said at a news conference with the South Korean president in November. “I do see certain movement.”
The North Korean dictator couched his message in more familiar bellicose language. He warned the United States that North Korea’s nuclear ambitions were now complete and the launch button was “always on the desk in my office.”
More posturing by Kim. However, clearly President Trump’s strategy puts the madman in a precarious situation.
Nevertheless, as CNN reports, the United States stands ready to talk to North Korea:
“The (President’s office) has been expressing its intent to talk with North Korea anytime, anywhere and regardless of formality if this is for the normalization of the inter-Korean relations and for the peace of the Korean Peninsula,” the spokesman said, adding that the President’s office also “hopes South and North Korea will peacefully resolve North Korea’s nuclear issue while closely cooperating with the international community.”
“The Winter Olympic Games that will be held soon in the South will be a good opportunity to display the status of the Korean nation and we sincerely wish that the event will be held with good results,” the North Korean leader said in a speech.
North Korea should take any opportunity to sit down with President Trump. He would find that America would love to welcome North Korea into the 21st century. The country is stuck in the 60s, and Kim only knows one way to behave, which is uncivilized.
But as President Trump warned Kim: “Do not underestimate us. And do not try us.”
