Although it hasn’t actually happened yet, the odds are strong that the Korean War may be finally coming to an end. New information has come to light that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been meeting secretly with China’s President Xi Jinping shortly before the planned summit meetings with President Trump and leaders from South Korea. North Korea has made radical and starling changes to their image and posturing in recent days. For the last week, virtually no media has mentioned or shown images on their Army, nuclear missiles, or talked of war, all staples of North Korean propaganda for decades. Gone too are images of their leader Kim Jong-un doing simple things like smoking or dressing casually. He now appears well dressed, and very modern West in his appearances.
Further indications of actual reconsilliary progress comes from his public statements as reported in Chinese and Korean news sources. Where they say he is committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
“If South Korea and the United States respond with good will to our efforts and create an atmosphere of peace and stability, and take phased, synchronized measures to achieve peace, the issue of the denuclearization of the peninsula can reach resolution,” he is reported to have said.
These comments, actions, and the responses from Trump such as his tweet at 10:05am on March 28th which said “For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility. Now there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity. Look forward to our meeting!”
How did this come to pass? The Korean War has existed through a dozen Presidencies and none of them ever arranged for a meeting, forget about the North Korean’s asking for one or offering to stand down their military posturing. For most of this century, Bush called them, along with Iran, the Axis of Evil, they have been a serious threat to world peace though their proliferation of missile and nuclear technologies. Now all of that could just be coming to a swift end. How? Why is it happening now?
There has been only one policy change between these dozen administrations: The THREAT of a Trade War! A 100% departure from all previous administrations. Instead of appeasing China, instead of offering them first nation status, instead of pretending that appeasement, and free trade will make them respect us and deal fairly, Trump campaigned on getting tough, and despite balking from his base, his party, and unceasing attacks from the left and the mainstream media, including Fox News, he seems to have singlehandedly turned the tide of a real war by posturing a trade war.
Make no mistake, North Korea would not be considering an inch of stand down without exceeding pressure from China. And before now, it has never been in the interest of China to apply any real pressure. But, China does not want and cannot afford a trade war! What is happening here, is the exact same economic pressures that brought an end to the Soviet Union. The brutal dictators in China know history. It is no secret that they greatly fear the collapse of their regime and view a trade war with the United States as a major event which could destabilize their rule.
As we watch the events unfold over the coming days, weeks, and months, I fully expect to see Trump roll back his Trade and Tariff talk in direct proportion to the events and successes of the talks with North Korea.
There has been a lot of talk about Trump, and things like 3-D chess. But I offer another analogy I have used for decades: Politics is not just a game of chess, but rather of game of chess in which the turns for each player are determined by first playing a hand of poker. Trump is good at chess, clearly. He seems to be very very good at poker.
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