Recent Updates #8

By using The Economist’s article, “Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un Hold a Border Photo-Op” to gain some background on this topic, I found out that on June 29^th, President Donald Trump reached out to Kim Jong Un via a tweet that stated, “If Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!”. Then, on June 30^th, the meeting took place. President Trump and Kim Jong Un met for what is now the third total time. However, this time, Trump actually stepped into North Korea. This was the first time that a United States president has stepped into North Korean territory since the Korean War. Trump considers this event a positive thing and something to be congratulated for; however others have opposing views to the one President Trump put out.

FOX news and other members of the Republican party did indeed praise President Trump for meeting with Kim Jong Un; however, FOX news has actually openly stated that if a democratic president did the same, they would attack them.

Now, after providing some background, it’s important to discuss the pros and cons of this meeting and President Trump stepping into North Korea. First, a positive aspect of this is that we are building back a relationship with North Korea that will hopefully create peace between the United States and North Korea for the future. This could aid with economic topics such as trade, alliances, and more. Another positive is that this could prevent a war with North Korea due to this new relationship. There have been discussions between the two leaders talking about the North Korean Nuclear Weapons Program. A relationship with Kim Jong Un might be a good way to prevent any issues with this.

Now, the cons must be discussed. President Trump may have appeared too “soft” when meeting with North Korea. Rather than take the approach past presidents have taken, which was to remain peaceful, yet powerful against North Korea, President Trump has taken the approach to build somewhat of a friendship with the North Korean leader. This most definitely has the ability to backfire and make the president seem less powerful. The use of twitter and the way President Trump goes about communicating is also an issue because it also lessens the respect other countries could have for the President of the United States. For these reasons, it may not have been a good choice to meet with Kim Jong Un, but only time will tell.

Source:

Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un Hold a Border Photo-Op. 2019. The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, www.economist.com/asia/2019/06/30/donald-trump-and-kim-jong-un-hold-a-border-photo-op.