After Trump’s bizarre decision to scale back the usual joint US military drills with South Korea – because they would “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a country that, as long as Donald J Trump has been president has been unthreatening and respectful” – you might have expected some harsh words from South Korea. Not so. South Korea president Lee Jae Myung is something of an appeaser with regard to the North – and with regard to Trump too, it seems:
“I empathize with President Trump’s will and efforts to create conditions for dialogue toward establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. I commend his resolute decision and hope it leads to trust-building, resumed dialogue, and a stable peace system on the peninsula.”
Unsurprisingly, North Korea couldn’t resist a sneer at this somewhat pathetic response, and who better to deliver it than Kim Jong-un’s attack-dog sister Kim Yo-jong. From the Chosun Daily:
North Korean Deputy Labor Party Chief Kim Yo-jong stated on the 20th, “Seoul found itself in a pitiable situation where it had to abandon its most beloved ‘war games’ due to a single word from Trump, who abruptly ordered a reduction in military exercises.”
Kim Yo-jong added, “For South Korea, this is an unprecedented ‘crisis’ where, without prior discussion, the exercise was abruptly cut short, leaving only a half-finished drill with its core removed. President Lee Jae Myung openly flattered Trump by praising his ‘reduction decision’ as ‘commendable’ and a ‘painstaking resolution,’ while privately advocating for ‘self-reliant defense’ and ‘independent military capabilities’ to prepare for the ‘worst-case scenario.’ Such hypocrisy starkly reveals South Korea’s anxious and contradictory mindset.”
She further claimed, “A nation whose national security crumbles entirely with a single reduction in joint exercises is South Korea—a country that outsources defense and security to foreign powers while boasting of having ‘more than enough capability to defend itself.’ South Korea’s pathetic state, unable to continue its cherished ‘war games,’ clearly illustrates the master-servant dynamic of the ‘U.S.-South Korea blood alliance.’ Despite attempts to mask their embarrassment by framing the reduction as a ‘turning point’ or a ‘new opportunity for change,’ their excuses are transparently weak.”
She has a point. It is indeed pitiful.
Kim Yo-jong’s statement emerged as the South Korean government seeks to revive U.S.-North Korea dialogue amid hopes for improved inter-Korean relations. Analysts suggest it aims to preemptively block Seoul’s expectations. Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, stated, “This is a clear rejection of South Korea’s attempts to use the exercise reduction as a ‘starting point’ for dialogue or strategic shifts. North Korea views the U.S. as its sole strategic partner and refuses to tolerate South Korea’s role as a mediator.”
Not that Trump comes off any better. He claimed to be planning to meet Kim Jong-un, but was firmly put in his place:
North Korea has rejected Donald Trump’s overture of scaling back a major military exercise with South Korea and has denied his claim of being in communication with Kim Jong Un.
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of the North Korean leader, said the American president’s reduction of the drills was “not even worth commenting on” and Pyongyang found it “completely uninteresting”.
If Washington saw the scaling back of the drills “as some kind of goodwill measure,” she said, “they will not get the answer they desire”.
High fives all round in Pyongyang, I imagine.
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