Donald Trump & North Korea: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

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Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a rally in San Diego. (Getty)

DPRK Today, North Korea’s state media outlet, has published an editorial praising Donald Trump as the right choice for president of the United States, according to NK News.

Aidan Foster-Carter of the University of Leeds said that while this may not officially be the government of North Korea speaking, it is certainly them floating the idea of endorsing Trump.

“This is very striking,” he explained. “Admittedly it is not exactly Pyongyang speaking, or at least not the DPRK government in an official capacity. But it is certainly Pyongyang flying a kite, or testing the waters. For the rest of us, this is a timely reminder – if it were needed – of just how completely Trump plans to tear up established U.S. policy in the region; and what an irresponsible, unthinking menace the man is.”

So why might North Korea be inclined to support Trump? What sort of statements has Trump made about the country? Here are five fast facts you need to know.


1. Trump Says He’s Open to Direct Talks with Kim Jong Un

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Donald Trump speaks at the Rolling Thunder “Ride for Freedom” parade. (Getty)

The DPRK Today editorial cites Donald Trump’s statement that he would be open to holding direct talks with Kim Jong Un.

“I would speak to [Kim Jong Un], I would have no problem speaking to him,” Trump said. He went on to explain that he would want to use this dialogue to “talk some sense” into him and to attempt to put an end to the country’s nuclear weapons program.

This would be a first for the United States, as no sitting president has ever held talks with a North Korean leader. Citing this statement, DPRK Today praised Trump as a “wise politician” and a “far-sighted presidential candidate.”

However, just last week North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva told Reuters that Trump’s idea of speaking with Kim Jon Un is “nonsense.”

“It is up to the decision of my Supreme Leader whether he decides to meet or not, but I think [Trump’s] idea of talk is nonsense,” he said. “It’s for utilization of the presidential election, that’s all. A kind of propaganda or advertisement.”


2. He Has Suggested the United States Withdraw from South Korea

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President Obama meets with President Park Geun-hye of the Republic of Korea. (Getty)

The United States currently has thousands of troops stationed in South Korea, but Trump has suggested withdrawing from Seoul and from Japan if the countries do not pay more to the U.S. South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo called Trump’s comments “shocking,” according to The New York Times.

“His remarks totally shake mutual trust — the most pivotal element in the alliance,” it said. “If he ever becomes president, it will most likely affect the decades-old alliance between Seoul and Washington.”

The DPRK Today editorial cited this policy as a positive of Trump’s candidacy.

“Yes, do it now,” they wrote. “Who knew that the slogan ‘Yankee Go Home’ would come true like this? The day when the ‘Yankee Go Home’ slogan becomes real would be the day of Korean Unification.”


3. He Says China Should Assassinate Kim Jong Un

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visits a tree nursery at the Korean People’s Army. (Getty)

Not all of Trump’s statements would be welcomed by North Korea, though. The presidential candidate strongly suggested in an interview on CBS’s This Morning that Kim Jong Un should be assassinated.

“I would get China to make that guy disappear in one form or another very quickly,” he said. When asked if he was referring to assassination, Trump said, “Well, you know, I’ve heard of worse things, frankly. I mean, this guy is a bad dude.”

Clarifying what he means by “getting” China to assassinate the leader of North Korea, Trump said that he would impose sanctions on the country. He made a similar statement on CNN, saying that it’s China’s duty to get North Korea under control.

“China should solve that problem and we should put pressure on China to solve the problem,” Trump said. “If they don’t solve that problem, we should be very tough on them on trade — meaning, start charging them tax or start cutting them off. You’d have China collapse in about two minutes.”


4. He Says He Wouldn’t Get Involved in a War Between North & South Korea

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Donald Trump holds a news conference from Trump Tower and addresses his veterans donations. (Getty)

DPRK Today’s editorial also cited the fact that Donald Trump says he would keep the United States out of a war between North Korea and its neighbors.

At a rally in April, Trump said that if a nuclear-armed conflict were to break out between North Korea and Japan, “it would be a terrible thing but if they do, they do.”

He also said, “Frankly, the case could be made to let [Japan] protect themselves against North Korea, they’d probably wipe them out pretty quick.”

DPRK Today wrote in its editorial, “Trump said ‘he will not get involved in the war between the South and the North,’ isn’t this fortunate from North Koreans’ perspective?”


5. He Says South Korea and Japan Should Arm Themselves with Nuclear Weapons

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Donald Trump speaks at a rally in San Diego. (Getty)

Trump has also suggested that South Korea and Japan arm themselves with nuclear weapons to defend themselves, which contradicts current U.S. foreign policy to prevent Japan from getting nukes.

Trump explained, “Can I be honest are you? Maybe it’s going to have to be time to change, because so many people, you have Pakistan has it, you have China has it. You have so many other countries are now having it.”

This has raised the concern of an arms race as Japan and South Korea build up weapons in order to prepare themselves against North Korea.

“Trump’s comments not only completely violate the international consensus of preventing the expansion of nuclear weapons, but use long-ago abandoned Cold War thinking to challenge the trend of peaceful development and harm stability in East Asia,” a Hong Kong newspaper wrote in an editorial.