South Korea's New Political Darling Is Kim Jong Un
Source: Daily Beast
SOKCHO, South Korea — Many South Koreans, including some of the country’s leaders, think U.S. President Donald Trump’s ability to resolve the nuclear standoff with the North is waning, and their confidence in their longtime American ally is fading. But Kim Jong Un? He seems unable to do wrong in their eyes.
The North Korean has successfully developed a mystique: that he, not Trump, can resolve the differences that divide the Korean Peninsula, and the implications for diplomacy—and ultimately for war or peace—are profound.
No doubt Kim’s strategy all along has been to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington, fully aware that the liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in, after nearly a decade of conservative rule, aspires to reconciliation, not confrontation. But even Kim might be surprised by his success thus far.
As Moon prepares for another summit with Kim next month in Pyongyang, the third since April, the North Korean ruler comes across to the man on the street as a nice guy bestowing blessings, while Trump blows hot and cold. “People don’t bother about Kim very much,” says Kang Sung-un, an office worker. “It’s Trump and the Americans the media worry about.”
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