Confounding the media on North Korea, 71-year-old President Donald Trump announced today that three North Korean hostages have been released by President Kim Jong-un to Vice President Mike as a goodwill gesture before an historic summit planned for later in the month. Since Trump was sworn in Jan. 20, 2017, he’s been savaged by the media, largely because of its close ties to the Democratic Party. Hoping the anti-Trump strategy worked to hammer down his approval ratings and turn Congress back to Democrats in the 2018 Midterm elections, the media doesn’t like to report any good news for Trump. Faced with the prospects of an historic peace treaty with North Korea, the media can’t figure out how to respond. If Trump pulls off a peace treaty and nuclear disarmament with Pyongyang, the media won’t have its Democrat-friendly narrative heading into November.
Deciding to exit former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Iranian Nuke Deal yesterday, the media found every reason to criticize the decision, including misleading the public about the benefits to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Reporting on his decision to back out of the accord, the media refused to tell the public that Iran has not allowed U.N. weapons inspectors into military sites where many believe its still enriching weapons grade uranium. Without intrusive U.N. weapons inspectors at Iran’s military sites, there’s no way to verify whether Iran’s compliance with the 2015 agreement to suspend weapons grade uranium enrichment. Media sources all confirm that Iran has complied with the terms of the JCPA. Yet they all know that the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] can’t gain access to sensitive military sites, making the agreement worthless.
Winning the release of three American hostages of Korean descent marks good news for the Trump administration, something the media refusee to report. Arriving with Vice President Mike Pence at Andrews Air Force Base early Thursday morning with Kim Hak-song, Kim Kong-chul and Kim San-duk, ADA Tony Kim, President Trump plans to be there, confounding the media narrative. Trump’s portrayed in the media as consumed with sexual liaisons, the last thing the media—and Democrats want—is a major Trump foreign policy success. If Trump pulls off a peace treaty with North Korea and nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula, it would win him the Nobel Peace Prize. That’s certainly not the narrative the media and Democrats want before the November Midterm elections. “I will be there to greet them,” said Trump, causing more problems for the anti-Trump media.
Trump played it tough with Kim last year, threatening military action if Kim did not disarm his nukes and ballistic missiles. Things go so bad last year, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Hong-ho told the U.N. General Assembly it was “inevitable” North Korean missiles would hit the U.S. homeland. Trump responded forcefully telling North Korea that “all options were on the table,” putting Pyongyang on notice they were on thin ice. Trump was criticized for war-mongering in the U.S. and foreign press until recent developments since the Peonchang Winter Olympics when North Korean athletes joined South Korea under one Korean flag. Since that opening, Kim has met with China’s Xi Jinging and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, claiming he’s ready to disarm his nukes and ballistic missiles under the right conditions. No one in the U.S. or Europe expected Trump and Kim to share the peace table.
No one knows what will happen when Kim and Trump summit in late May or early June. What’s known for sure today is that Kim released three prisoners accused of spying on North Korea. Kim’s expressed interest recently about ending the Korean War with a peace treaty, something that didn’t happen July 27, 1953 when the war ended in an armistice. While touting the regimes Marxist roots, Kim knows that the communist rule and isolation has led to widespread starvation and economic misery to North Korean’s 25.37 million citizens. Watching prosperous South Korean sponsor the 2018 Winter Games showed Kim up close the prosperity possibilities under a capitalist model. Trump’s offered Kim to join the prosperity with U.S. help if he disarms his nukes and signs a peace treaty. If Trump accomplishes that, it’s going to rain on his detractors in the media and Democratic Party.
Meeting with Moon last week in an historic summit in the Demilitarized Zone, Kim agreed in principle to a peace treaty and ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Whether that means Pyongyang is ready to let the IAEA disarm his arsenal of nukes and ballistic missiles in anyone’s guess. Trump won’t accept anything less that verifiable disarmament. Past agreements with former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, had the Kim family moving the goalposts on disarmament. “The fact that we have the opportunity to change direction here and in a more peaceful one and having it occur quickly is good news,” said John McHugh, Atlantic Council Board Director and former Secretary of the Army. McHugh warns things could fall apart quickly but, on the other hand, just might surprise folks with disarmament and a peace treaty.
