According to a recent claim, former U.S. President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate nominee, could negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the condition of withdrawing U.S. forces from South Korea if he succeeds in regaining power.
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In a joint column written with Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), on the 27th, The Washington Post columnist Max Boot assessed that “From Gaza to Ukraine, the world is a pretty bleak place right now. One bright spot is the nascent trilateral relationship among the United States, Japan, and South Korea.”
He continued, “The Camp David meeting was a breakthrough moment when Biden announced a new era of partnership that would strengthen deterrence not only against North Korea but also China,” pointing out that China is currently escalating efforts to block and create fissures in this trilateral cooperation.
Citing the trilateral summit of South Korea, China, and Japan, they said, “China’s desire to meet is seen as a ploy to interject itself into the close Japanese-South Korean alignment with Washington.” They also highlighted that “In the past, such gatherings highlighted the joint suspicion of the Sino-South Koreans of Japan. Now, the meeting highlights the joint Japanese-South Korean suspicion of China — which, with its bullying tactics.“
The column stated, “A pro-American trilateral alignment is the best possible answer to the menace posed by the anti-American trilateral alignment of China, Russia, and North Korea,” but expressed concern that “But, because the Japanese-South Korean-U.S. relationship is so recent, it might be imperiled by changes of leadership in those countries.“
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In particular, they pointed out that President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea, President Joe Biden of the U.S., and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan are all struggling with low approval ratings. “But at least Yoon has three more years left in office, and Kishida is likely to stay as prime minister by winning the support of his Liberal Democratic Party in September. Biden is in more immediate danger of ouster,” they evaluated.
They predicted, “A Trump return to the White House would be a serious setback for the United States’ system of alliances. Trump would likely be averse to a trilateral relationship simply because his opponent negotiated it. He certainly wouldn’t expend diplomatic capital to keep it alive.“
They further pointed out, “It doesn’t seem to matter to Trump that South Korea spends 2.7 percent of its gross domestic product on its defense — higher than the NATO target — and has one of the most capable militaries on the planet. Trump previously suspended joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises; in the future, he is unlikely to fund trilateral exercises.”
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