{"id":130987,"date":"2026-08-25T04:44:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T04:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/130987\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T04:44:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T04:44:19","slug":"analysis-trumps-strategy-may-aim-at-normalization-in-korea-progress-on-iran-nukes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/130987\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysis:\u00a0Trump\u2019s\u00a0strategy may aim at normalization in Korea,\u00a0progress on Iran nukes"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump\u00a0scaled<\/a>\u00a0back\u00a0joint exercises with South Korea just days before he noted with unusual certainty how many nuclear missiles North Korea\u00a0possesses.<\/p>\n

While\u00a0many have\u00a0characterized<\/a>\u00a0Trump\u2019s moves\u00a0on joint exercises\u00a0simply as an attempt to punish South Korea for not cooperating\u00a0with\u00a0U.S.\u00a0efforts\u00a0to\u00a0open\u00a0the Strait of Hormuz,\u00a0reporting shows Trump\u00a0previously committed\u00a0to reengage North Korea diplomatically.<\/p>\n

The strategy may be to simultaneously work on normalization in Korea, as pushed by South Korea, while advancing the U.S. aim of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran. <\/p>\n

The current South Korean government has been pursuing a strategy of normalization of its relationship with the North, seeking to go beyond the uneasy armistice negotiated in the 1950s. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet us put down our intentions to threaten each other and begin discussions to end the long-running war as the directly involved parties,\u201d said<\/a> South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, while celebrating in mid-August the 81st anniversary of the US-led liberation of Korea from Japan in 1945. <\/p>\n

The two Korean countries have technically remained at war since the 1950-53 conflict. <\/p>\n

During the G7 Summit in June, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked \u200cTrump to take the lead in restarting negotiations to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula, according<\/a> to Reuters. <\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump expressed a strong determination to play a necessary role in advancing the Korean Peninsula issue,\u201d said<\/a> South Korea\u2019s Yonhap state news agency, \u201cand stated that he would consider ways to contribute to peace on the peninsula, adding that he would communicate closely with President Lee regarding this matter.\u201d <\/p>\n

While South Korea is likely to favor the denuclearization of the entire Korean Peninsula, Trump\u2019s remarks, specifically noting<\/a> how many nuclear weapons North Korea already possesses, could be a reminder that a nuclear-free Korea is now impossible. <\/p>\n

At the same time, it may have been used to juxtapose South Korea\u2019s commitment to the international community to look at nuclear non-proliferation in places such as Iran with as much favor. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that I get along with him, that\u2019s a good thing,\u201d Trump said of his relationship with the North\u2019s Kim Jong Un, according to Fox News. \u201cYou can\u2019t let Iran have a nuclear weapon. And I know Kim Jong Un very well, and he\u2019s going to be fine as long as we have a smart president.\u201d <\/p>\n

Subsequently, Trump has floated an idea of a personal summit between himself and the North Korean leader, in line with their previous memorandum of understanding (MOU). <\/p>\n

\u201cTrump\u2019s pivot toward engagement, however, may align with the MOU\u2019s long-standing objectives, including the reduction of US-South Korea combined military exercises and broader deescalation measures,\u201d said<\/a> an analysis from the Institute for the Study of War. <\/p>\n

While much of the coverage of North Korea\u2019s response about a possible summit characterized the Kim family\u2019s rhetoric as an outright rejection, Korea watchers are saying a meeting between Trump and Kim is possible. <\/p>\n

Statements from Kim Yo Jong, the sister of the North Korean dictator who operates as a spokesperson for the country, didn\u2019t say yes or no to engagement with Trump. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs for the news from Washington that shortly ago, there was a communication between the leaders of [North Korea and] the U.S. I am not aware of it at all, and perhaps it may be the only thing I do not know as regards the foreign policy of our supreme leadership,\u201d admitted<\/a> Jong. <\/p>\n

The ambiguity by the dictator\u2019s sister may have left the summit door ajar. <\/p>\n

\u201cA steady stream of high-level North Korean statements and commentary indicates that Pyongyang will approach the United States within a wider strategic framework than it did during Trump\u2019s first term,\u201d said<\/a> an analysis by 38 North. <\/p>\n

That would make sense for a country that\u2019s gone from having enough<\/a> fissile material for nuclear weapons, to having close to or in excess of 60 nuclear bombs. <\/p>\n

An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes<\/a> Kim has a lot to gain, even if just reminding the world that nuclear-armed North Korea is more consequential now. <\/p>\n

Trump, on the other hand, can be simultaneously working towards pacification in Korea while advancing American interests in the Middle East by putting pressure on South Korea to help stop a nuclear-armed Iran. <\/p>\n

Indeed, comments by South Korea in light of Trump\u2019s criticism<\/a> may make that scenario probable instead of possible. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe government takes note of President Trump\u2019s social media message,\u201d the presidential office in Seoul said<\/a>, stressing South Korea is \u201cclosely consulting with the U.S. on ways to make practical and military contributions\u201d to peace with Iran. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump\u00a0scaled\u00a0back\u00a0joint exercises with South Korea just days before he noted with unusual certainty how many nuclear…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[114,31,34,142,1722,66863],"class_list":["post-130987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-iran","tag-korea","tag-north-korea","tag-nuclear","tag-trump","tag-trump-admin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}