Category: Politics-US

President Trump has been sworn in and interestingly there has been no provocations from North Korea yet to welcome him:

 New President Donald Trump vowed Monday to stop the United States from being “taken advantage of,” put “America first” and usher in a “golden age of America,” as he was sworn in as the nation’s 47th president. 

During his swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, Trump, 78, underscored his America First credo as his second four-year term is expected to see a major shift in the U.S.’ approach to alliances, trade and other key issues. Vice President J.D. Vance was also sworn in.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Trump’s election victory has led to much speculation in South Korea that he will return to direct diplomacy with North Korea, target South Korean companies with trariffs, cause turbulence in the US-ROK alliance, and cause a drop in the Korean won. So what do ROK Heads think will happen on the Korean peninsula over the next four years with Donald Trump as President?

Nothing new here, just the continuation of Biden’s policies:

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Saturday touted the South Korea-U.S. alliance as a “linchpin” of security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and around the world, while underlining Seoul’s “sizable” contributions to the upkeep of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

Vice President Harris made the remarks in a special contribution to Yonhap News Agency, reiterating America’s “ironclad” security commitment to South Korea, vowing to preserve its global leadership and accentuating the importance of the bilateral alliance forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Titled “Let’s Go Forward, Together: Creating a Prosperous Future for Korean Americans,” her exclusive contribution is the first of its kind to a South Korean media outlet in this year’s election cycle. It came just days ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

“In 2022, I stood at the DMZ and reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of South Korea. I know our alliance has been a linchpin of security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and around the world,” she wrote, recalling her trip to the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.

“Trump, by contrast, is demanding that South Korea pay $10 billion a year to host our troops despite its already sizable contributions — disparaging our alliance and disregarding America’s standing in the Indo-Pacific,” she added as she is set to face off against her Republican rival in Tuesday’s showdown.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Trump has brought back up the issue that South Korea should pay more for defense from U.S. troops however with the cost sharing deal recently concluded that extends to 2030, this seems like campaign rhetoric at this point. Trump is once again using a lot of hyperbole to make his greater point that allies should pay more for international security provided by U.S. troops:

Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that America “cannot be taken advantage of any longer in trade and in the military,” reinforcing speculation that he could demand renegotiation of a recent defense cost-sharing deal with Seoul if he returns to office.

The Republican presidential candidate made the remarks during a televised town hall event hosted by Fox News, falsely claiming that South Korea does not pay for the stationing of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

“40,000 soldiers and we never get paid. South Korea, they don’t pay,” Trump said, apparently referring to 28,500 USFK service members.

“I made them pay. Everyone raised hell, and Biden took the deal, and he said they don’t pay anymore, and they’re a rich country. No … we have to start. We cannot be taken advantage of any longer in trade, in the military,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The shots that Kamala Harris recently made against Donald Trump demonstrates that her administration would just continue what the Biden administration has already been doing:

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has said she will not “cozy up to” dictators like North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, whom she cast as “rooting for” her Republican rival Donald Trump.

In her nomination acceptance speech in Chicago on Thursday, Vice President Harris took aim at former President Trump, who has long boasted about his personal ties with Kim, stressing she knows “where I stand” in the “struggle between democracy and tyranny.”

“I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un who are rooting for Trump,” she told a cheering crowd of Democrats on the fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention.

“They know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors. They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself,” she added.

The remarks reinforced expectations that Harris, if elected, could focus on working together with allies to bolster deterrence against North Korean threats while leaving the door open for dialogue with Pyongyang — largely in line with President Joe Biden’s approach.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

You might as well have a policy platform that supports trying to find the Loch Ness Monster and the Sasquach if you believe at this point North Korean denuclearization is achieveable:

The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula would remain a U.S. policy objective should Vice President Kamala Harris win the White House race in November, a former Pentagon official said Tuesday, dispelling concerns about the exclusion of the goal in the Democratic Party’s new policy platform.

Colin Kahl, former undersecretary of defense for policy, made the remarks, saying that people appear to be “overreading” the platform. He is known to have participated in a process to write the platform expected to help set the tone for Harris’ policy stances.

During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, party delegates officially adopted the platform that did not have any mention of the goal in contrast with the 2020 document that stated a pledge to advance the “longer-term goal of denuclearization.”

“Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains an objective of this (Biden) administration and, I would have to imagine, a Harris-Walz administration,” Kahl told a press briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Waltz may be touting his ties to South Korea, but what he has not been talking about are the stolen valor claims brought against him:

U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, left, stands next to her newly chosen vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as he speaks during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Minnesota governor Tim Walz, the running mate of presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, highlighted his personal and familial ties to Korea and his long military service. 
  
During their first campaign appearance together in Philadelphia on Tuesday after Walz joined Harris in her campaign against former President Donald Trump of the Republican Party, Walz shared a story about his father, a 1950-53 Korean War veteran, and how his encouragement led Walz to enlist in the military. 
  
“My dad served in the Army during the Korean War, and with his encouragement, at 17, I joined the Army National Guard,” Walz said. 
  
“For 24 years, I proudly wore the uniform of this nation. And just as it did for my dad and millions of others, the G.I. Bill gave me a shot at a college education,” Walz added. The G.I. Bill refers to programs created to assist American military veterans. (……)

As governor of Minnesota, he traveled to South Korea in 2019, along with Japan, to “highlight Minnesota’s long history of engagement with South Korea and future opportunities for economic partnership,” including increasing exports of Minnesota-produced agricultural products, medical devices and clean energy products.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.