President Moon Jae-in mentioned on Thursday that Trump promised to get South Korea’s consent before taking any sort of action regarding North Korea, including a military strike
“No matter what options the United States and President Trump want to use, they have promised to have full consultation with South Korea and get our consent in advance,” Mr. Moon said in a televised news conference. “This is a firm agreement between South Korea and the United States. The people can be assured that there will be no war.”
Moreover, Mr. Moon said that the US and Trump made an agreement with South Korea that the impasse over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs should be resolved through a peaceful manner, such as sanctions and pressure, and even dialogue.
Trump alarmed many people in South Korea with his recent rhetoric on North Korea. He also promised to bring “fire and fury”, which only made everything worse. Mr. Moon said on Tuesday that unilateral military action against the North would definitely be unacceptable.
As expected, South Korean officials are afraid that any military strike on the North could easily turn into a broader conflict on the entire Korean Peninsula, which has been in a state of war for decades already. Moreover, as the Korean War ended in 1953 with a truce, and not a peace treaty, Mr. Moon said that a return to combat would only waste the prosperous economy that South Koreans have succeeded in building since then.
“Never again can we lose all we have in another war,” he said. “I will prevent war, whatever it takes to do so.”
In addition, he thought that Trump’s recent statements meant to “demonstrate his resolve and put pressure on North Korea.”
Source: nytimes.com
