The Trump-South Korea meeting this week won’t result in any concrete plan between the two world leaders for countering North Korea’s future threats.
The cause of this anticipated Washington/Seoul standstill: starkly different policy approaches held by both world leaders – South Korea’s new commander in chief President Moon Jae-in and President Donald Trump.
Here’s a look at those specific differences… and how a stalemate between Washington and Seoul will leave Pyongyang unrestrained in its ongoing weapons-testing…
Moon Supports Diplomacy, and So Did Trump… Last Year
Let’s start by examining South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s recent rise to power.
Moon was elected on May 9 after running a slapdash campaign to replace South Korea’s disgraced, impeached President Park Geun-hye. He campaigned on taking a diplomatic approach to North Korea.
Specifically, Moon touted reviving a limited version of the Sunshine Policy of Engagement – a policy that South Korea employed briefly in the early 2000s. The Sunshine Policy aimed to build trust between North and South Korea through investments, exchanges, and aid programs.
This policy, however, ended in October 2006 when South Korea suspended aid shipments to Pyongyang, seemingly unprovoked.
This post was published at Wall Street Examiner on June 27, 2017.
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