Korean War

In a late-night tweeting session, Trump praises North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, hints at another meeting

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has apparently fulfilled his promise made to President Trump in Singapore at their meeting in July and sent the remains of the US servicemen who died in the Korean War. Kim and Trump pledged to “commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.”

President of the United States was quick to express his thanks to Un.

“Thank you to Chairman Kim Jong Un for keeping your word & starting the process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing fallen!” POTUS said on Twitter. “I am not at all surprised that you took this kind action.”

He also hinted at another meeting between two leaders, after the historic summit they had in Singapore.

“Also, thank you for your nice letter – l look forward to seeing you soon!” Trump tweeted.

Some 55 boxes of what is believed to be remains of US soldiers arrived at Washington last week. Identifying those remains will be a daunting task that may take several years. Last time North Korea made a similar gesture by returning the remains of an RAF pilot shot down in the Korean War, it turned out that they sent animal bones to London.

The letter President Trump mentions is another mystery. The last known such letter from Kim Jong-un was the one he sent in July in the aftermath of the Singapore summit. It is unclear whether POTUS refers to that one or did Un sent another letter to the White House.

Hints about the second meeting are also baffling, especially since the first one accomplished so little. Despite the promises he made, Kim Jong-un has failed to disassemble North Korean nuclear facilities or start the process of denuclearization. Both leaders exchanged invitations for visits to their respective state capitals.

Source:businessinsider.com.au

“The two top leaders gladly accepted each other’s invitation convinced that it would serve as another important occasion for improved DPRK-US relation,” the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state-run propaganda outlet, said in their statement after the meeting.

If President Trump does visit Pyongyang, it would be the first time in history that a sitting president visited North Korea. After the threats and insults, Trump and Un exchanged in 2017, it would pose a dramatic shift in the two countries’ relationship.

Source: businessinsider.com

The United States and South Korea—A Legacy of Foreign Assistance Success

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President Obama’s visit to South Korea in April 2014, was considered particularly important for two reasons. First of all, it was to highlight the importance of the alliance between the two countries, and second of all, it was to emphasize its success as one of the greatest achievements in American history when it comes to foreign aid. To be more precise, the fact that South Korea became a global partner with an 11-percent increase in foreign assistance budget says a lot about their success, which, again, implies that the US foreign assistance can contribute to security, as well as economic prosperity.

Source:theguardian.com

The Korean War had a detrimental impact on South Korea, especially on its population, along with economic and military capacity. So, the United States invested about $35 billion in economic foreign assistance with the aim of getting the country back on the road to its recovery, but also to protect it from North Korean aggression that could possibly come in the future. And, of course, the job was done successfully, as the economy of South Korea flourished soon afterward, while Seoul became a major bulwark of security and stability in the Asia-Pacific.

Not only did South Korea’s transformation prove to be a diplomatic triumph for the US, but it was also a smart investment for American businesses. How is that possible? It’s quite simple – those $35 billion they provided, in fact, “amount to less than what the United States exports to South Korea annually.” All in all, as a result of such an economic miracle, South Korea became the tenth largest export market for US goods. Furthermore, Seoul implemented the US-South Korean free trade agreement (which was reached two years earlier, in 2012) only helped the country develop even more and import even more goods from the US.