Category: Politics-US

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.

It is expected that if Kamala Harris wins the U.S. presidency she will continue to emphasize a strong U.S.-ROK alliance and push for the fairy tale of a denuclearized North Korea:

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, right, stands at a military observation post as she visits the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjeom in South Korea on Sept. 29, 2022. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Kamala Harris, endorsed by Biden on Sunday as his successor as the Democratic presidential candidate, is anticipated to continue the Biden administration’s emphasis on alliances if the U.S. vice president wins the upcoming presidential election against Trump, according to analysts. She could become the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead the ticket of a major U.S. political party. 
  
As a senator during Trump’s presidency, Harris criticized Trump’s conciliatory approach toward North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, arguing that Trump was not responding strongly enough to North Korea’s nuclear threats. 
  
“Let me start by saying this: I guarantee you I won’t be exchanging love letters with Kim Jong-un,” Harris said in August 2019 in response to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)’s question to Democratic presidential candidates whether they would agree to partial sanctions relief in exchange for the partial dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. “President Trump has handed Kim one PR victory after the next, all without securing any real concessions, so the next president will have serious work to do. 
  
“Ultimately, we can’t accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state,” she added. “But it’s clear that simply demanding complete denuclearization is a recipe for failure; we must work closely with our allies to contain and reverse the short-term threats posed by Pyongyang as we work toward that long-term goal.” 
  
This contrasts with Trump, who boasted of his friendship with Kim, saying the North Korean leader “misses” him and “would like to see [him] back” in a speech to the Republican National Convention on July 18. 
  
During an appearance on CBS in September last year, Harris said, “We are all absolutely clear and unequivocal about our goal of the complete denuclearization of North Korea.”

Though not directly involved with Korean affairs and having limited exposure to the Korean public, Harris visited South Korea in September 2022, where she stressed the “ironclad” nature of the U.S. commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but according to the article Harris has approximately 8 hours of experience visiting South Korea back in 2022.

This should come as no surprise that J.D. Vance to echoing Donald Trump’s call for U.S. allies to do more for national defense:

Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate has vowed to ensure U.S. allies share the burden of promoting world peace, and warned them against what he called “free rides.”

Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio made the remarks during a speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday amid concerns that Trump, if reelected, could put pressure on South Korea to increase its financial contributions for stationing the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

“Together, we will make sure our allies share in the burden of securing world peace,” he told a cheering crowd at the convention. “No more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American taxpayer.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

There has been a lot of concern in South Korea that a second Trump presidency would see him asking the ROK to pay more for the upkeep of U.S. forces, instead it appears Trump will be targeting Taiwan instead:

“Tariffs are great economically and good for negotiations. U.S. President Joe Biden’s policies to foster electric vehicles have only added to inflation with subsidies.”

Former President Donald Trump hinted in an interview with U.S. economic media Bloomberg Business Week that there will be an upheaval in overall economic and industrial policies if he takes power. The interview was held at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida at the end of June before the shooting, but it was relentless as if it had already been elected. In fact, attention is drawn to the disclosure of the sketch of “Trumpnomics.”

In an interview released on the 16th (local time), former President Trump said, “The interest rate should remain as it is until the economy recovers,” and stressed, “The interest rate level is high now, so (the Biden administration) may want to cut interest rates, but it should not be done before the election.”

Maeil Business Newspaper

Here is where Trump discusses Taiwan:

Former President Trump attacked Taiwan for taking the U.S. semiconductor industry and saying it should be returned as defense expenses. Asked if he would defend Taiwan against China, he replied, “Taiwan has taken the U.S. semiconductor industry, so I think it should pay us for defense.” Former President Trump said, “Taiwan gives us nothing. But the United States is giving them billions of dollars to get them to produce semiconductors in the United States,” he pointed out. 

You can read much more about Trumpnomics at the link.

South Korea has definitely has had its share of political violence to include recently the stabbing of the Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung:

DP spokesperson Han Min-soo also sent best wishes Trump’s way and echoed the PPP’s sentiment that political terrorism must never be justified.

“The Democratic Party suffered an act of terrorism against former leader Lee Jae-myung, and we’ve been battling to fend off the ghosts of such terrible politics based on hatred,” Han said. “We strongly condemn political terrorism that destroys democracy, and we will be on the front lines of the battle against the politics of hatred.”

Yonhap

The conservative People Power Party however condemned the attack and mentioned the recent politcally inspired attacks on both Lee Jae-myung and PPP member Bae Hyun-jin;

Ho Jun-seok, spokesperson for the ruling People Power Party (PPP), wished Trump a speedy recovery, after the Republican presidential candidate had a bullet pierce the upper part of his right ear during a Saturday rally (U.S. time) in Pennsylvania.

“Political terrorism is a threat to democracy and cannot be tolerated for any reason,” Ho said in a statement. “Political terrorism is a product of extremism and politics of hate. Politicians have the duty to unite society through understanding and harmony.”

Ho said South Korean people have also been affected by political terrorism, citing attacks on former presidential candidate and ex-Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung and PPP lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin.

You can read more at the link, but back in 2006 there was also the slashing of then conservative parliamentary member Park Geun-hye who would go on to become President and in 2015 U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert was slashed across the face as well. You can go even further back when Korean President Park Chung-hee was assassinated in 1979 as well.

Here is the reaction from the President of Korea on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump:

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Sunday he was shocked by an assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump, denouncing the attack as “horrible political violence” and wishing him a quick recovery.

“I am appalled by the horrible political violence. I wish former President Trump a speedy recovery,” Yoon wrote in English on his official X page. “The people of Korea stand in solidarity with the people of America.”

Trump, the Republican presidential candidate pursuing his second term, suffered a gunshot wound in his right ear during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday (U.S. time). The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said it will treat the shooting as “an assassination attempt” against Trump.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link. We don’t know the motivations of the assassin yet, but I would not be surprised if he is someone with a history of mental issues, lives an isolated life, with no girlfriend, and became radicalized by all the rhetoric against Trump. I just recently shared on here The New Republic cover that had Trump looking like Hitler. How many times have we heard Trump is going to end democracy in America? This is all complete rubbish, but talk like this causes crazy people to do crazy things.