Trump in Korea: Expectations vs. Reality
Was Trump just a picky eater in Seoul? Or did he help resolve the North Korean conflict?
Weeks before President Trump arrived in Seoul, the news was already bustling with words about what would result from his visit. Would Trump propose a peaceful strategy regarding North Korea, or is he going to make another harsh remark and ignite a conflict on the Korean peninsula? Would there be a renegotiation of the Free Trade Agreement? Feelings of worry and hope dominated the political atmosphere as if the visit was the missing key to all our concerns.
After all, South Korea needed reassurance that its alliance with the United States was still strong. There was a need to provide further justification to the citizens for the installation of THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), which resulted in violent clashes with the residents of Seongju. Trump’s expectations of the Free Trade Agreement had to be specified, following his claim that the deal was “horrible” and had left America “destroyed.” Besides, a strong alliance with the United States was necessary in the midst of conflicts with our closest neighbors, China and Japan.
The day before Trump’s arrival in South Korea, the Moon administration issued a “warning” security level, the highest level of emergency security. Policemen were placed in various parts of the city, mostly around Gwanghwamun area.
On the morning of November 7th, I went to Gwanghwamun Square and saw that it was mainly populated by three different crowds — the pro-Trump protesters, the anti-Trump protesters, and the policemen, who outnumbered all the protesters. The protesters, despite their expectations, were blocked by the immensity of the police force that dominated the square. Beyond the rows of policemen I could hear the anti-Trump protesters shout, “Dear policemen, please make way for us so we can proceed our protests. This is a country with freedom of speech.”
The Koreans of the political left, the anti-Trump group, consisted of a wide range of ages. This included a group of student protesters from The Fellowship of South Korean Youth, who were denied their entry into the United States not long ago. They held signs that read, “Stop sanctions on North Korea” and “No to Trump, No to War!” Those of the political right, the pro-Trump group, waved South Korean flags, American flag, and crosses. One of their signs read, “Welcome President Trump,” while sneaking in a few others that support the former President Park.
The protests continued throughout Trump’s stay in Korea, but public officials and the media didn’t seem too concerned. The news focused on the kind of food that Trump ate in Korea and the significance behind each dish. Apparently, he was flustered by the small amount of red meat in his state dinner with President Moon, during which chief of staff John F. Kelly had to hide his phone so he won’t tweet his complaints on twitter. Despite the efforts of Blue House officials to show the diversity of Korean cuisine, Trump regarded the mere lack of red meat as a sign of “disrespect.” It almost seemed like the Blue House officials spent more time catering to Trump’s picky tastes than arranging meetings.
The news also showed many photos of First Lady Kim and Melania Trump interacting in their beautiful outfits, with captions that often claimed that Melania held longer conversations with the first lady of South Korea than she normally does with others during visits. In effect, the media was portraying a positive image of Trump’s relationship to South Korea, showing the amount of effort the country was putting into his visit, and convincing people that the United States was still fond of South Korea.
But Trump proved otherwise during his speech at the Korean National Assembly. Loaded with criticisms of North Korea’s human rights issue and direct warnings to the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, Trump used his first major speech in Asia to remind the world of the power held by the United States and himself. And with this, he decided to exclude South Korea in the North Korean crisis and make it clear to the world that the United States is in charge of it.
South Korea wanted more dialogue with Trump, but at the end of this visit, he left us with even more unresolved questions and concerns. If he showed us anything, it was divisions — in the public opinion, and in the ways that South Korea and the United States view the North Korean crisis.
