President Trump Confirms Defense Commitment to South Korea
It appears everything went well with the phone call between President Trump and acting ROK President Hwang:
President Donald Trump reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to the alliance with South Korea during a phone call Monday with the country’s acting president.
The leaders also agreed to strengthen joint defense capabilities as they face a growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea, the White House said in a statement.
The call — the first time Trump and acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn have spoken — offered much-sought reassurance to South Koreans nervous that the new U.S. administration might change longstanding policies toward the divided peninsula. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link.
This isn’t enough for the Trump administration in supporting the alliance. The US has to do more to support South Korea. I’m talking about China’s threats against South Korea’s economy in retaliation against THAAD. The Trump administration should warn the Chinese if they continue to bully the US ally, South Korea, the US will also retaliate against China economically. China is trying to bully South Korea into submission, the US shouldn’t let that happen.
Should they do it in public and cause the Chinese to fight us or lose face? Or should they do it privately in a way that allows the Chinese to withdraw gracefully?
Either way, I’m fine. I like Senator McCain’s jab at China last week regarding the China THAAD retaliations. I think he’s the only American official who let it be known that the bullying of SK by China is unacceptable. If there’s a stiff resolve by SK and US, it will be harder not just for China, but it will be also harder for the next Korean administration who are known to be anti-THAAD, to cancel the THAAD system.
If the slogan of this administration is America First, with the intent to move away from multinational trade agreements to bilateral trade agreements that benefit America, why would you think we would expend capital to defend the economic interests of another country?
We already have a bilateral Korea-US agreement. We will also probably try to get a bilateral China-US agreement and not get involved in how Korea and China deal with each other economically.
The new world order.
Please understand I held my nose and voted GOP in 2008; but wish I had not.
Senator McAmnesty only talks tough when he’s positive no one will take him seriously or when he’s addressing conservatives. Like so many others, the former Keating Five member knows how to make money off being in elected office.
Maybe waiting until we actually have a Secretary of State actually stating the Administration’s position rather than trying to extract it from Slate, Vox, or CNN… 😉
And given the previous Administrations pathetic foreign policy, one might expect a minimum level of hope that even Trump couldn’t do any worse than sending a 70 year old singer to serenade the victims of the Paris attack with a message that’s way too little and too late, falsely blaming the deaths of Americans in Benghazi on a youtube video, and arming Mexican drug cartels (Fast and Furious) and al Qaeda (masquerading as “moderate” Syrian rebels).
JoeC, because if the new President is smart, and he wants to counter his biggest threat which is China, then it’s best to have a strong economic relationship with his allies. Without a strong economic relationship then the alliance will die, and South Korea (and Japan for that matter) will only end up in the China’s camp because they have no options left with an increasingly strong China. Does the US really want to go it all alone fighting China when most of the rest of the world will be allied with them (by no choice of their own but out of necessity)? I’m not saying South Korea allying with China will be good. It will be bad, but that’s the only option left if Korea is going to be able to survive when the US shuts its doors in trade.