President Trump will meet Kim Jong-un next month in Singapore to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Best outcome, the two Koreas will start on the path to reunification and reasonable—if not stunning—economic success in the future. (Assuming Kim's idea of a united Korea is not just a bigger, nastier version of the current North Korea.)
Trump was asked if he should get the Nobel Peace prize for this. The man grinned. "Everybody thinks so, but I would never say it."
Since "everybody" has to include the Nobel selection committee, the award must be a lock. After all, Obama got one, and if Obama can do it, the Anti-Obama should also be able to haul one in. Seems only reasonable.
So, what was Trump's contribution to the peace process? Insulting the man personally and threatening the utter destruction of his country.
Clearly, an American president is entitled to any number of awards for behaving like this, representing, as it does, the very essence of diplomacy and statesmanship.
In reality, this show is all Kim's. His desire to reunify North and South, if achieved, will make his contribution to Korean history impossible to ignore. He will emerge the greatest of the iconic Kim family, and his image will straddle the peninsula like a colossus. He will be remembered long after Trump's name has sunk to the level of a corroded footnote.
And the timing has nothing to do with the American president (whoever it might be).
Kim only needed to demonstrate the ability to send nuclear-tipped ICBMs to every state in the US. And he's done that. (Ignoring, for the moment, the technicality of testing the protective measures needed to insure his warheads could function after reentering the atmosphere.)
Having this bargaining chip in his arsenal allows him to more forward with his mission to bring the two Koreas together again. And the victory goes to his country's scientific prowess, as urged on by Kim's relentless (and brutal) leadership.
Trump can't make Kim's plan succeed. He can only stand in the way of it happening.
He's got to hope they give out Peace Prizes for starting wars, too.
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