US under Trump Series: South Korean President credits Trump for North Korea talks

After concluding a successful talk with North Korean delegations on Tuesday, where North Korea agreed to send a team at next month’s Olympic in Seoul along with high-level delegations for another round of talks, South Korean President Moon Jae-in credited the U.S. President for making the inter-Korean talks happen. The talks were held on Tuesday on the South Korean side of the demilitarized zone, which has divided the two Koreas since 1953, after a prolonged period of tension on the Korean peninsula over the North's missile and nuclear programs. North Korea ramped up its missile launches last year and also conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, resulting in stronger international sanctions. Tuesday's talks, the first since December 2015, were held to resolve problems, revive military consultations, and avert accidental conflict. The talks took place after North Korea accepted South’s proposal for talks on Tuesday in response to Kim Jong-Un’s New Year speech, where he expressed his wish for improved relations with the Southern neighbor.

Since the inauguration, President Trump and North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-Un have exchanged harsh war rhetoric and insults where Trump called Kim ‘little rocket man’ and Kim called trump mentally deranged. While they exchanged insults, the United States and United Nations’ Security Council (UNSC) imposed very tough sanctions on North Korea, fiercest in the UN history. The latest round of sanctions imposed restrictions on crude oil exports to North Korea.

Speaking to reporters, Moon said, “I think President Trump deserves big credit for bringing about the inter-Korean talks…..It could be a resulting work of the US-led sanctions and pressure."