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| ▲ This file photo, taken June 30, 2019, shows U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meeting at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. (Yonhap) |
US expert-N Korea
Trump might find it 'much more difficult' to consider military option against N. Korea than Iran: expert
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, March 3 (Yonhap) -- A security expert said Tuesday that it would be "much more" difficult for U.S. President Donald Trump to consider the possibility of a military option against North Korea, citing Pyongyang's nuclear arms, its ties with China and Russia and geographic proximity to South Korea and Japan.
Ellen Kim, director of academic affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI), made the remarks during a forum, amid questions over how Trump will address the North's growing nuclear threats following U.S. military operations that have led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"I think that Iran and North Korea are quite different. First, North Korea does have nuclear weapons. So, it's much more risky for the U.S. to actually take that military option," Kim said.
"And there are China and Russia behind North Korea. So I think it's also strategically ... very risky operation to do that. Also South Korea and Japan (are) right there directly under the nose of North Korea's nuclear and military threats," she added.
Kim noted that former U.S. President Bill Clinton considered a strategic strike against North Korea in 1994, but his South Korean counterpart at the time, Kim Young-sam, opposed it amid a U.S. military assessment that the strike could result in massive Korean deaths.
"I think it's going to be much more difficult for President Trump to think about that option for North Korea," Kim said.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his willingness to resume diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Speculation has continued that he could attempt to meet Kim when he visits China for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping from late March to early April.
Trump held three in-person meetings with Kim during his first term: the first meeting in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the third at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019.
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