In August 2017, the Washington Post reported that President Obama, in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, had “warned” then-president-elect Trump on the challenges presented by the escalating tensions with North Korea.
If you would have told me that today, April 27, 2018, I would have woken up to the news of Kim Jong Un describing the relationship between North and South Korea as one "linked by blood as a family and compatriots who cannot live separately," flanked by his counterpart president Moon Jae-in of South Korea at the DMZ line; I would have gone on to tell you that such an event would have cemented the presidential legacy of Jeb Bush or Bob Gates — even of Hillary Clinton. Such a diplomatic feat rivals that of Nixon’s opening to China, Bush’s handling of the fall of the Soviet Union and Theodore Roosevelt's mediating influence in ending the Russo-Japanese War for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The announcement of the end of 68 years of hostilities between North and South Korea is due solely to the fact that Donald Trump is president of the United States.
I understand that such a declaration might cause a nauseating effect to some, but as someone who has been highly critical of President Trump’s behavior in the White House, it is only fair that one gives Trump credit where credit is due.
I was critical, and still am, of Trump’s refusal to embrace the Trans-Pacific Partnership in order to counter Chinese global ambitions. Two weeks ago Donald Trump used the threat of signing TPP to exert the maximum amount of leverage in order to incentivize the Chinese to play a productive role in bringing North Korea to the table.
I was anxious about Donald Trump conducting foreign policy through Twitter in dubbing Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man,” but it turns out that President Trump used a barrage of adjectives in order to establish a dialogue, however strange and unorthodox that dialogue may be, with the North Korean dictator. He ultimately did not shy away from direct communications with the North Koreans in sending to them the finest public servant currently serving in the U.S. government, Mike Pompeo, this past Easter.
True, China could change their mind regarding their willingness to be a productive partner for peace in the future; it is also a possibility that the talks with North Korea could make a hard turn for the worst. And, of course, no one is discarding the reality that North Korea could once again cheat on any future deal they might commit to now.
However, with this new engagement between Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un has emerged a renewed expectation for peace in the hearts of the people of Korea. It is now their peace to build and keep.
