Riddle me this: what does Donald Trump have in common with Kim Jong-un?
The answer: Russians.
On August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Japanese-occupied Manchuria. The Japanese occupation force was no match for the battle-hardened veterans of the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, and Japan surrendered unconditionally less than a week later. The Soviets continued to advance, occupying all of Manchuria, the Kuril Islands, the Japanese half of the island of Sakhalin, and the Korean peninsula down to the 38th parallel.
Korea, which had been a Japanese colony since 1910, was partitioned along the 38th parallel, with United States forces occupying the south and Soviet troops in the north. In 1946, the Soviets chose Kim Il-sung to head what would eventually be called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Kim Il-sung became the grandfather of Kim Jong-un, the present leader of North Korea.
Now, Kim Jong-un will tell you he never colluded with any Russians to become North Korea’s leader, but the fact remains that without the intervention of the Soviets, most of them Russians, Kim’s grandfather would never have become North Korea’s leader, and therefore Kim Jong-un himself would not now be North Korea’s leader.
Likewise, Donald Trump would not be President had not the Russian government interfered in the 2016 elections. Whether he “colluded” or not, Trump would not be where he is without Russian help, and Hillary Clinton, whom the Russians blame for the 2014 ouster of the pro-Russian regime in Ukraine, would now be President of the United States.
That’s what Trump and Kim have in common: they both have Moscow to thank for their positions.