President Donald Trump has a warped view of communism. While he falsely accuses Democrats at home of harboring a communist agenda, he embraces communists abroad. Trump calls President Xi Jinping of the Peoples’ Republic of China his “friend” and he has recently praised North Korea as “unthreatening” and “respectful” while writing on social media. He also asserted that he and Kim Jong-un of North Korea “get along GREAT.” President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea believes Trump intends to engage North Korea in nuclear talks.
North Korea is a peculiar case. Its formal name is the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea. Truth be told, North Korea is hardly democratic. And considering that the supreme leadership in North Korea has passed from father to son since its establishment in 1948, it’s not much of a republic either. More like a socialist monarchy, communist North Korea was ruled by Kim Il-sung from 1948 until his death in 1994, at which time power passed to his son, Kim Jong Il, who ruled until his death in 2011. North Korea’s current ruler, Kim Jong-un (the son of Kim Jong Il) has since ruled.
But if North Korea is neither democratic nor a republic, it’s not “unthreatening” or “respectful” either. North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, leading to a three year war which resulted in an armistice in 1953. There was no peace treaty and North Korea to this day views democratic South Korea with possessive intent. Though the communists were clearly the aggressors during the Korean Conflict in the early fifties, North Korea officially dubs South Korea as “a most hostile enemy.” Trump lends credence to this ludicrous assertion, having criticized military exercises with South Korea as “costly” and “hostile.”
Of course, more costly were the 36,000 American lives lost in the Korean Conflict, killed while holding the line against communism. To now abandon our commitment to South Korea shows unforgivable disrespect to those who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep an ally free. It’s as if Trump believes U.S. history (and world history) begins and ends with him.
According to the New York Times, Trump has a personal tiff with President Lee of South Korea. It’s reported that Trump attempted to include South Korea in his war with Iran and Lee deferred on the request. Now Trump has ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to scale back scheduled military exercises with South Korea. But South Korea hardly has the military resources to take action regarding Iran.
Most ironic is Trump’s notion that he’ll be able to engage North Korea in nuclear arms reduction. He attempted this goal in his first term, only for Kim to reject his request. And North Korea has since enhanced its stockpile, now possessing 60 nuclear weapons (some of which have the capability to hit the United States). In the meantime, Trump has put the world on hold to address Iran’s dubious nuclear capability.
What Trump fails to grasp is that our commitment to South Korea is as much in our own interest. To be sure, Iran is a dangerous nuisance. But North Korea poses a much greater danger. Scaling back military exercises with South Korea is reckless. It sends a message of surrender to a regime in North Korea currently engaged with Russia against Ukraine and intent on absorbing South Korea. Trump endangers his own legacy by adopting a policy of retreat in the face of communist North Korea.
John O’Neill of Allen Park writes a twice weekly political column.
John O’Neill