Let's 'make a deal': Trump moderates tone on North Korea, at least for now
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President Donald Trump showed signs of optimism during his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-In… and without using his usual Rocket Man rhetoric.
Buzz60
SEOUL – “Fire and fury” is out.
Now it’s more like “Let’s Make a Deal.”
President Trump, whose previous threats to “totally destroy” North Korea have triggered fears of nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula, has moderated his rhetoric during his trip to the region.Â
“I really believe that it makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and to make a deal that’s good for the people of North Korea and the people of the world,” Trump said after meeting Tuesday with South Korea President Moon Jae-in.
“I do see certain movement” toward possible talks with North Korea, Trump added. “Let’s see what happens.”Â
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To be sure, Trump is still demanding that North Korea totally give up its nuclear weapons, something its leader Kim Jong Un has said he would never do. But he’s appeared much more measured about the possibility of military action.Â
“As we work together to resolve this problem using all available tools short of military action, the United States stands prepared to defend itself and its allies using the full range of our unmatched military capabilities – if need be,” Trump told reporters in Seoul, which is less than 40 miles from the North Korean border.
Skeptics question whether Trump’s tenor will stay restrained, and if he’s really seeking peace. They include thousands of protesters who hit the streets of Seoul who said the American president seems determined to strike North Korea, and carried signs like “No Trump/No War.”
Two months ago, before the normally staid United Nations General Assembly, Trump said that if the U.S. or its allies are “forced” to defend themselves, “we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Â Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.”
And while Trump for months has frequently brought up the possibility of military action – he has appeared more pessimistic about diplomatic efforts he says have failed past U.S. presidents. Trump last month mocked his own secretary of State for suggesting talks with North Korea, tweeting that Rex Tillerson was just “wasting his time.”
The somewhat softer tone in Seoul likely reflects Trump’s efforts to recruit an international coalition to put more economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea – the subject of a major speech that Trump is delivering to the South Korea National Assembly on Wednesday.Â
His major target is China, Kim’s biggest economic patron and also the next stop on Trump’s five-nation tour of Asia.
Trump is also trying to recruit Russia to his anti-Kim coalition, and said this week he plans to meet President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of an economic summit in Vietnam. (That meeting will draw scrutiny well beyond North Korea; a special counsel is investigating Trump associates in connection with Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.)
Beyond seeking more pressure on Kim, Trump’s trip to Asia has been a sales job. He has urged Japan and South Korea to buy more U.S. military equipment as a hedge against North Korean aggression, and both countries have agreed to do so.
More: Trump: Japan is ‘winning’ with free trade
More: Trump arrives in Japan for start of Asia tour, says he’ll likely meet with Putin
If anything, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe struck a more aggressive tone as Trump visited him during the first leg of the president’s Asia tour.
“There is no point in the dialogue for the sake of dialogue with North Korea,” Abe said during Trump’s visit to Japan earlier this week. “Now is the time not for dialogue but for applying maximum level of pressure on North Korea.”
Japan later hit North Korea with a new round of economic sanctions.
Moon, who has long championed diplomacy with North Korea, endorsed his approach this week. He told Trump that he hopes his visit “will serve as an opportunity to relieve some of the anxiety that the Korean people have due to North Korea’s provocations.”
Meanwhile, North Korea is having none of it. As Trump traveled through the region, state media denounced the president and pledged to strengthen its nuclear weapons program.
“As long as the U.S. and its followers continue their hostile acts against us, we will further bolster our nuclear, precious sword of justice,” the Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of North Korea’s ruling party, said in a commentary.
Trump’s rhetoric has been known to be harsh one day and softer the next. There could be a difference between what Trump says in South Korea – and what he says about North Korea nukes moving forward.
“He may say something that’s prepared in the National Assembly speech in Korea, but then he may tweet something else,” said Michael J. Green, senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic International Studies.
Speaking before the speech, Green also questioned how far allies are willing to go if it comes to somehow forcing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
“I’m not entirely convinced that Japan and South Korea, in particular South Korea, are ready to sign on for preventive war,” he said.
Posted!
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with families of Japanese abducted by North Korea in Tokyo Nov. 6, 2017. They are, from left in front row, Hitomi Soga, Shigeo Iizuka, Abe’s wife Akie, Abe, Trump, U.S. first lady Melania, Sakie Yokota and Akihiro Arimura. Â
First lady Melania Trump, and her Japanese counterpart Akie Abe, third from right, listen to sales manager Hajime Fukuju, left, during their visit Nov. 5, 2017, to Mikimoto Ginza Main Store, Japan’s pearl jewelry maker, at the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo.Â
President Trump, center, salutes, with first lady Melania Trump, top right, uoon arrival at the U.S. Yokota Air Base. On his first to Asia, Trump will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and Philippines for summits of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).Â
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