Hoping to resolve the North Korean crisis without war, 71-year-old President Donald Trump set his red line that he would not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. While Secretary of State Rex Tillerson works 24/7 on a diplomatic solution, 33-year-old North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un works feverishly on completing a nuke-tipped Intercontinental Ballistic Missile {ICBM]. Tong Zhao, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing, sees no effort by Pyongyang to disarm its nuke and ballistic missile arsenal. Putting North Korea Nov. 21 back on the U,S. Terror Watch List ratchets up tensions with the hermit Stalinist state. Zhao thinks all the belligerent rhetoric in recent months intensified Pyongyang’s pursuit of a nuclear-tipped ICBM, capable of hitting the U.S. West Coast. Whatever war of words between the White House and Pyongyang, Kim pursues his nukes.
Zhao believes that Trump calling Kim “Little Rocket Man,” threatening “fire-and-fury” and promising to “totally destroy North Korea” has given Kim incentive to continue his nukes and ballistic missiles. Zhao can’t really believe that anything Trump said has to do with Kim working feverishly on nukes and ballistic missiles. Taking the Cool-Aid from Pyongyang’s unending propaganda, Kim’s nuke and ballistic missile program has been going on for over 25 years. “I am afraid that this move may further convince Pyongyang that the United States adopts hostile policies against North Korea and Washington has no intention to establish a normal relationship,” Zhao said. Zhao can’t fathom North Korea’s collusion with Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran, all sharing nuke and missile technology. Trump’s colorful Tweets have zero to do with Kim’s nuke and ballistic missile program.
When Iran and North Korea celebrated Aug, 6 the opening of a new North Korean Embassy in Tehran, Trump knew it was more than coincidence. Let there be no mistake, Iran and North Korea share nuke and ballistic missile technology. Trump’s decision to label North Korea again a state sponsor of terrorism stemmed directly from North Korea’s technology nuke and ballistic missile exchanges with Iran. Weighing on Trump’s decision was the vacant face of Otto Warmbier, a student returned to the U.S. Sept. 16, a brain-dead zombie, dying three days later. Adding Pyongyang to the Terror Watch List was also followed the Kim Jong-nam’s Feb. 13 assassination with VX nerve agent at the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia airport. Blaming Trump’s rhetoric for Kim’s feverish pursuit of nukes and ballistic missiles is preposterous, given the regime’s brutal track record.
Trump’s decision to place Pyongyang back on the Terror Watch List was long overdue, since removed by former President George W. Bush in 2008. Bush hoped the gesture would bring the late Kim Jong-Il to the bargaining table. Nine years later, Kim is dangerously close to a nuke-tipped ICBM. “This could greatly undermine the prospect of having a diplomatic solution over the Korean nuclear crisis,” said Zhao, stating the obvious. Without Kim agreeing to disarm, Trump can wait only so long before Cruise missiles and smart-bombs hit Pyongyang. Putting North Korea back on the Terror Watch List ratchets up the pressure on Kim to consider the repercussions. Trump said the action “will impose further sanctions and penalties on North Korea . . . and support our maximum pressure campaign to isolate the murderous regime.” Zhao thinks that China and the U.S. see North Korean disarmament differently.
Meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Fl, Aug. 11, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump agreed that North Korea must denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. There were no degrees of separation between Xi and Trump on North Korea. Speaking at the China-United States Exchange Foundation in Beijing Nov. 13, Zhao insisted that China sees North Korea as an “insecure” country trying to protect itself with nuclear weapons. “For Chinese, we feel we can tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea in the foreseeable future while we work out a long-term disarmament strategy,” said Zhao. Zhao knows that North Korea has made countless nuclear threats against the U.S., with North Korea’s Foreign Minister saying Sept. 23 that it’s inevitable that North Korean would hit the U.S. with an ICBM. With China North Korea’s biggest trading partner, China isn’t worried about a North Korean nuke.
Going to the Nth-degree playing the diplomacy game, Trump’s run out of patience with North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Unlike China, that isn’t the target of North Korean nuclear threats, the U.S. is in North Korea’s crosshairs. North Korea told NATO Secretary Jens Stotenberg Nov. 8 that its nukes and ICBMs are not meant for anyone but the United States. North Korea’s official KCNA news bureau said Sept. 14 that it would turn the U.S. to “ashes and darkness,” “sink” Japan and “wipeout” South Korea. With those kinds of existential threats, it’s no wonder Trump drew his red line on North Korean nukes and ballistic missiles program. “China believes there is zero hope in denuclearizing North Korea,” said Zhao, confirming, what Vladimir Putin said Sept. 5 that North Korea would rather “eat grass” than give up its nukes and ballistic missiles, pushing the world closer to the brink.
