The bromance between trump and Kim Jong Un of North Korea seems to have gone South over the past few weeks. The talk of love and love letters has been replaced with mutual juvenile name-calling and threats of possible missile launches, even nuclear annihilation.
What is the reason behind this escalation? Is this just empty bluster from two unstable dunderheads of state? Is it egos and hurt feelings? Is it the fact that no progress has been made over nuclear negotiations? Is the that the trump administration has no competence to manage international affairs and the only tools they have are flattery, threats and insults? Should the world be worried? Or should we simply sit back and join the rest of the world in a good laugh?
This morning, N. Korea launched its latest set of verbal attacks calling trump “thoughtless and sneaky old man.”
In a separate statement, former Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong said Trump’s comments were a “corroboration that he feels fear” about what North Korea might do when Kim’s deadline expires and warned Trump to think twice if he wants to avoid “bigger catastrophic consequences.”
This was in response to trump’s tweet yesterday lobbing some trumpian insults at Kim Jong Un as a way to get Kim to bend to his demands -
What is this business of Kim Jong Un interfering with U.S. elections? Did trump hear it on Fox and Fiends or some right-wing blog? Is he trying to preemptively blame N. Korea for his loss in the 2020 elections? He is also tacitly implying there will be no agreement before November 2020.
Also, on Saturday, N. Korea announced that it had conducted some “very important” missile tests.
Trump’s latest tweet perhaps was prompted by the test and was in retaliation for last week’s statements from N. Korea threatening to revive the term “dotard” for trump -
Here are some translations of the statements from North Korea, clarifying the meaning of the word dotard and its association with senility and dotage.
On Wednesday, the North’s military chief, Pak Jong Chon, also warned that the use of force against the North would cause a “horrible” consequence for the U.S. He said North Korea would take unspecified “prompt corresponding actions at any level” if the U.S. takes any military action. apnews.com/...
The above response in turn was prompted by trumps statements in London at the NATO summit, when he talked about Kim Jong Un in his usual demeaning, insulting and bullying way, calling him “Rocket Man” again —
Some excerpts from the rambling presser at the NATO summit last Tuesday -
I have confidence in him. I like him, he likes me, we have a good relationship. We’ll see what happens.
Kim likes sending rockets up, doesn't he? That's why I call him Rocket Man.
I’m possibly the only one he has that kind of relationship with in the world. They call it the Hermit Kingdom. I know a lot about his Hermit Kingdom.
You have to go and look at the first agreement that we signed. It said he will denuclearize. I hope he lives up to the agreement, but we are going to find out.
Now, we have the most powerful military we ever had, and we are by far the most powerful country in the world, and hopefully we don’t have to use it. But if we do, we’ll use it.
It’s quite likely that trump was aware of statements earlier that day from Kim Jong Un and his officials, making noises over their unhappiness with nuclear negotiations with the USA and threatening to send trump a nasty “Christmas gift”, probably a euphemism for some new long range missile.
Also, Kim Jong Un was visiting some sacred mountain in the country side on horseback, which apparently is an ominous sign that something is afoot as dear leader shows himself off on a white horse.
The North Koreans also made some unflattering and alarming remarks —
The dialogue touted by the US is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the DPRK bound to dialogue and use it in favor of the political situation and election in the US.
It is entirely up to the US what Christmas gift it will select to get.
Wow!
The threats from North Korea have actually been bubbling since late November. The nuclear agreement talks have gone nowhere. Like his boss, Mike Pompeo, who was tasked to draw up the agreement, is more used to bullying and insulting than negotiating with foreign adversaries.
Dotard
For those who do not use the word on a regular basis (who doesn’t?), here is a primer on the word “dotard’ —
According to www.wired.com/...
The New York Times published a story noting the word had been used only 10 times in its pages since 1980. Other outlets pointed out that it was a word favored by Shakespeare and J.R.R. Tolkien.
What next?
Who knows how this will end. What is clear is that there is little chance of any breakthrough in talks with Korea. International agreements requires competence and preparation, neither one of which exists in this administration. Here is some analysis from a few experts with experience in such things -
- Former Defense Secretaries Leon Panetta and James Mattis linked the failed summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump to a lack of preparation and not working with allies.
- “If the president of the United States is going to sit down with another leader, you better damn well be prepared in terms of what are the issues involved and what do we have to agree on so that you get something accomplished,” Panetta said of Trump’s meetings with Kim.
Of course, it was not long ago that trump proclaimed that N. Korea as his greatest accomplishment. As usual, it was fake news and propaganda, targeted at his clueless base.
Epilogue
So, here we are — two buttheads going at each other, launching insult-tipped missiles at each other. Sounds like adolescent fun except both of them are just fingers away from pressing nuclear buttons.
Is this MAD between two mad blockheads? Will we need Détente again? Will there be SILT (Strategic Insults limitation Treaty)?
Jokes aside, maybe this is just empty bluster, which will be replaced soon by a new cycle of romance and name-calling. But nevertheless, this is another opportunity for Democrats to show how trump has failed to achieve anything of substance on the International scene — from trade deals to security deals, from Mexico to France, not even North Korea. He is a total failure and a threat to the security and economic well-being of the United States.
What do you think?