05/18/2016, 09.26
UNITED STATES - NORTH KOREA
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Donald Trump open to meeting Kim Jong-un

The American billionaire, and probable Republican candidate in the upcoming US presidential elections, said: " I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him,”.  Discussions on hypothetical summit on Pyongyang's nuclear program and the relations with China: "I would put enormous pressure on Beijing. We have immense power from the economic point of view ". His challenger, Hillary Clinton, replicates: "He has a bizarre fascination with foreign strongmen."

Seoul (AsiaNews) - The probable Republican candidate in the upcoming US presidential election, Donald Trump, has declared he is willing to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. The purpose of the meeting - a first since the establishment of North Korea - would be to seek a solution to stop Pyongyang's nuclear program and plan a common strategy for relations with China. In an interview released at New York's Trump Tower, he clarified: " I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him".

The statement by the US billionaire was met by diverse reactions, ranging from that of his likely challenger in the race for the White House Hillary Clinton - "he has a bizarre fascination with foreign strongmen" - to that an anonymous official at the South Korean Foreign Ministry, who limited himself to "I think it's a joke". Clinton was referring to the flattering exchange a month ago between Trump and President Vladimir Putin, defined by the Republican candidate "as a man I respect."

In addition to Pyongyang’s nuclear policy, Trump would like to find a "common strategy" with Kim Jong-un in relations with China. Beijing and Washington are linked by a trade exchange worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year, which would, however, is in favor of the Land of the Dragon: according Trump, this ratio is "rape". That’s why he concludes there is a need for renewed negotiations: "I would put enormous pressure on China, because from an economic point of view we have enormous power."

Relations between the US and North Korea are among the worst on the planet. The two do not have diplomatic or trade relations since 1950, when the outbreak of the Korean War divided the peninsula in two. In addition, Washington has always been - along with Seoul - the favorite target of North Korean political propaganda, the rhetoric of its leaders and even the internal missile program. Every missile test by the Kim regime is evaluated according to its ability to strike US military targets.

The songs that are sung during the great Arirang celebration in Pyongyang - a massive show which takes place between August and September, inspired by a popular folk song in the peninsula – speaks of American women being raped by the animals, the whole nation enveloped by a rain of fire and famine, and men loosing their eyes and genitals. During the War of Korea and beyond, puppets dressed as Uncle Sam were beaten and set on fire by the children of North Korean primary schools.

The difficult bilateral relations deteriorated further when Pyongyang began arresting American citizens visiting its territory, often on trumped-up charges. Sentenced to long years of hard labor and shown with paraded on state television to "confess", these are regularly released due to US "pressure”, which more  often than not is the payments of cash or provision of other basic necessities.

Finally, the privileged relationship between Seoul and Washington should not be discounted. South Korea has for years been a sort of "American protectorate", and even today about 53 thousand marines of the US military are allocated in the southern part of the peninsula. The two countries signed a free trade agreement and have facilities for the transport of goods and passengers. Each year, the war games take place between the two armies unleashing Pyongyang propaganda.

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