Han Media: [Editorial] Trump "Calls North Korea a Nuclear Power," Situation Developments Are Worrying

US President Trump said, "I think North Korea is a 'nuclear power' (nuclear power)." This was his response during a press conference before his visit to South Korea, when asked, "If North Korea claims it wants to talk with the United States, must the US recognize it as a nuclear state? Would the US be open to this?" He also stated, "If North Korea must be recognized as a nuclear state, I would say they have many nuclear weapons." Trump had also called North Korea a "nuclear power" on the first day of his January inauguration. At that time, the White House explained that "it was just objectively mentioning the North Korean nuclear issue." However, this time, when asked whether the US would recognize North Korea as a nuclear state, he actually expressed agreement, taking a step further than before.

When asked if there were plans for a meeting with Kim Jong-un, Trump said, "If he contacts me, I will." Regarding the meeting with Kim Jong-un, he said, "There is a 100% possibility, and journalists can report on this." Recently, Kim Jong-un also emphasized the "good memories" with Trump, stating that recognizing North Korea as a nuclear state is a prerequisite for US-North Korean talks. In response, Trump hinted at the possibility of recognizing North Korea as a nuclear state and openly expressed his willingness to meet with Kim Jong-un. In June 2019, Trump posted on SNS in Japan "Let's meet," and just 32 hours later, a US-North Korean summit was held at Panmunjom. It seems that he wants to create such a "surprise event" again.

If Trump recognizes North Korea as a nuclear state, then denuclearization would be impossible to discuss. If standing on the "America First" position, only removing North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles while retaining medium- and short-range missiles, South Korea would be completely exposed to nuclear threats. Even if part of North Korea's nuclear weapons are reduced under the name of "disarmament," the nuclear weapons capable of destroying the Republic of Korea would still remain. The Kim family has always hoped to lift sanctions against North Korea while also canceling the joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States. During the 2018 US-North Korea talks in Trump's first term, he unilaterally suspended the military exercises, citing the high cost of the South Korean-US exercises. But at that time, he had not yet abandoned the principle of "denuclearization." Now, he has reached the point of openly talking about "nuclear states."

Kim Jong-un knows better than anyone that Trump likes "political shows." With the smooth relations between North Korea and China, North Korea and Russia, he may take advantage of Trump who mentioned "nuclear" earlier. Just the meeting between the two leaders would cause many forces in South Korea to cheer. The Minister of Unification also came forward to say it was a "great opportunity." This development of events cannot but be worrying.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847108198931456/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.