Trump anxiety spreads through South Korea

[DonViejo]

Many South Koreans worry that the U.S. president — though hailed for bringing Kim Jong Un to the table — lacks the patience for a true breakthrough with the North.

By CORY BENNETT 08/25/2018 06:41 AM EDT

SEOUL — South Koreans are growing more anxious about President Donald Trump’s commitment to the North Korean nuclear deal, fearing he could simply walk away, having already declared victory back home.

The president has earned the respect of many people here for his unconventional diplomacy in meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, even among those who otherwise deride Trump as a “merchant” who lacks the “class” of his predecessor. But behind the surprising goodwill and relentlessly upbeat pronouncements from Seoul officials, there are creeping doubts, according to interviews this summer with current and former government advisers, a leading politician, foreign policy specialists, journalists and North Korean defectors.

Among the concerns are frustration that Trump has failed to secure a formal end to the Korean War while negotiating on nuclear disarmament; worries that the president is simply seeking a “trophy” for meeting with Kim and won’t be as engaged in the hard work to come; doubts about the “hubris” of the White House’s all-or-nothing approach to negotiating with Pyongyang, as opposed to the incremental process favored by many South Koreans; and dismay over why Trump would launch a trade war with China at a time when he needs Beijing’s help in keeping pressure on North Korea.

Most of those concerns relate, in some ways, to Trump’s personal characteristics — his unawareness of history, his short attention span — even as many South Koreans acknowledge that it was Trump’s very brashness that brought about the breakthrough in the first place.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/25/trump-south-korea-anxiety-795715