Donald Trump and the Korean problem

Some had been curious as to the North Korean reaction to the US Presidential election. Today, they’ve issued their answer, they don’t care. The more interesting question is, what does the despotic and deeply corrupt President Park Geun-hye think? I doubt she’s very happy.

Mass protests in South Korea have been aimed at her regime. Her decision to allow Obama’s America to place the THAAD missile shield in South Korea has been deeply unpopular. She is seen as an American puppet, much as her even more despotic father, Park Chung-hee was little more than a CIA servant acting as a president. Park Chung-hee’s reign of terror didn’t end well as he was assassinated by Kim Jae-gyu, the director of South Korea’s own Central Intelligence Agency.

South Korea which is now a bustling economy and big league exporter of industrial goods, is more than capable of surviving as an independent state. Donald Trump has said the following about tensions on the Korean Peninsula, “China should solve that problem for us. China should go into North Korea. China is totally powerful as it relates to North Korea”. The Chinese government has actually agreed with Trump, stating that they seek to help and quill any tensions amongst the two Koreas.

This would be the best solution for the world. China is a major regional power and US presence in Korea has totally outlived its usefulness, if it ever had any. If tensions are to de-escalate, China, one of the few world powers that has open channels of communication with both Pyongyang and Seoul, is the country to do so. China also has a historic tie to the peninsula that no other country can claim to have.

As part of Donald Trump’s plan to engage in foreign affairs practically, he ought to consider the amount of US taxpayer money wasted on South Korea. The idea that if America instantly withdrew its troops from the 38^th Parallel, that there would be an immediate resumption of the Korean War is simply fanciful. China would not allow it to happen and both Korean states are not so frivolous as to discard warnings from Beijing.

Barack Obama has turned America’s Asian policy into a garbled mess. The best thing that any future US administration could do is continue to trade with strong Asian economies, but keep out of the political fray. North Korea would likely tone down its rhetoric and many in South Korea who are tired of living as a kind of informal US colony would be happy. Park Geun-hye would likely fall from power and genuine democratic elections.

It is a shame that neither North nor South Korean politicians demonstrate the maturity necessary to negotiate lasting peace. Because of this, China must take responsibility and America ought to step aside and leave the region both from both a military and politically interventionist stand point.