Jan 7, 2018
TRUMP’S DILEMA IN DENUCLEARIZING NORTH KOREA & A NEW MOMENTUM
In a pursuit of self-interest, KIM JUNG UN of North Korea (NK), bragging about its possession of nuclear weapons, and successful test of Hwasung 15, a hydrogen bomb with explosive force 15 times greater than the atomic Bomb that leveled Hiroshima, suddenly decided to side with South Korea (SK) as a good gesture, and to join in the SK’s hosting winter Olympic games to be held in Pyung Chang, Kangwon Do, South Korea, while continuously threatening to attack US with continuously launching ICBM missiles and with even possible nuclear attack against America, what they call an imperialist aggressor.
SK’s newly elected president Moon willingly accepted NK’s offer to participate a winter Olympic in a dim hope of becoming the only president to unite the divided nation since the establishment of the Republic. There exists a defense treaty and trade agreements between the traditional allies under which SK is required a prior consultation with US on terms of meeting, before directly opening a dialogue with NK, vise versa, without which US may withdraw its commitment to take part in the winter game or to withdraw US troops from SK once US is found to be treated as a scape coat in the dealing with NK.
SK and NK, an independent sovereign member admitted into UN, though they have homogenous culture in terms of language, customs and history. The opportunity given to them to reunite the divided country under the mutual understanding with US for the past 68 years proved unproductive with their inability to reunite the country for themselves.
Now that they are pretending to be able to be united without US involvement only when US withdraws its military forces from SK, most of peace and democracy loving South Korean people wants to make it sure that reunification be achieved on the democratic, free market economy principle, not the way NK’s communist system dictates. US will not allow communist North to take over the South burying the principle and the value for which 54,000 American soldiers sacrificed their precious lives during the Korean War. The bitter lesson Vietnam taught most of us that democratic values and freedom that peace-loving people achieved with blood shedding battles should not be perished by communism at any reason.
Having recognized the fickle and inconsistent conduct on the part of NK and SK in implementing their reunification policy that they showed in the past decades, Trump is committing himself that US is not making the same mistake as in Vietnam and he wants to be a president who will leave a legacy in history to make nuclear free Korean peninsula while he stays in power as president of the United States of America. In an anxious attempt to make his presidential task come true, he made all the efforts to have China influence upon NK to abandon nuclear weapons and comply with the recently approved UN Security Council Resolution prohibiting trade with NK. However, Chinese ship was found to ship NK’s lifeline oil to North Korea, completely ignoring the UN economic sanctions. Therefore, sudden agreement between North and South to have a dialogue is being carefully watched by US and UN members. Amid the threatening statement by Kim Jun un that” The nuclear Button is on his desk at all times, US is deemed abandoned powerless in the issue of North Korea’s attack.
Apparently the danger of nuclear use is greater now than during the cold war, doubled with the cyber threat. With all the efforts US made for the past decades to keep communist NK from taking over the SK, president Trump is mired in dilemma, as two Korea leaders are to be engaging in talk without the presence of US. Are they really burying their 68 year old hatchet and getting ready for reunifying the divided land without a proper procedure inputting the will and desire of people ? What is the self-interest of US in this critical juncture? Is US being by passed by SK and NK because of their nationalism and not concerned over communization of SK by NK’s very tactical strategy as North Vietnam had done?
The conflict between self interest motivation by China & NK, SK and a collective security and peace efforts by US left US abandoned and powerless in marching for great cause of global peace and security on Korean peninsula. Under this chaotic dilemma, president Trump is forced to take military action to keep SK and NK at bay. The great cause and value is to maintain peace and democracy in Korean peninsula. Now that all chips are down, there is no alternative but to take action for US, as a champion of freedom and democracy, in order to uphold UN resolution to denuclearize Korean peninsula. It must be remembered that a new history is created in crisis in our history of mankind. Trump may seize the positive momentum in denuclearizing the Korean peninsula by bringing the two Koreas to a compromising table with his unique charismatic leadership, before he undertakes military options against NK, thus achieving a Pareto Optimality for both NK and SK. This is his golden opportunity for Trump to make a miracle in reunifying the two Koreas. Your superior leadership at this juncture is all for the great cause of global peace and order.
Dr.Hubert Hojae Lee
Democracy and Peace Advocate. Korean American Foundation USA.
A Member of President’s Advisory Board, RNC.