Out of all the dictators who have seized power by force, or manipulated public opinion, none of them compare to the dynasty of the Kim family. The Kim family has dominated North Korea as key dictators, killing any mere sign of rebellion and using propaganda to lock 25 million people away from the rest of the world. While North Korea has spent 70 years developing its nuclear program through the sacrifice of millions of people, thousands of crimes, and three different dictators, the U.S. has done little to directly confront the Hermit Kingdom and failed to realize this international threat sooner.

Economic sanctions only go so far with a country which has basically nothing. Military pressure is useless when taking into account that millions of people are willing to die for their “Supreme Leader”. Now we have very credible reports that missile tests have been successful,and South Korea is now at the threat of complete nuclear destruction. Yet, President Trump now wants to reverse all the Kim dynasty has built up to? He wants Kim Jong Un to reverse his grandfather’s dream of obtaining international recognition through nuclear bombs? He wants North Korea to stop missile tests? The mere fact that he is suggesting that Kim Jong Un will hand over his country and the codes to his nuclear arsenal is preposterous.

Other U.S. and Korean presidents tried to stop this sooner, and they all failed. The sunshine policy set up in 2000 by then-South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung didn’t stop Kim Il Sung from creating more nuclear weapons. Even now, while Moon Jae-in is determined to bring peace, North Korean nuclear sites are still working. Dealing with North Korea is no normal affair because their government is not built on the pillars of a legislature and a court. It is a perfect dictatorship which only responds to threats to its own power. Let’s take, for example, China. China is the big brother of North Korea being the only country with enough diplomatic power to cause real internal change due to it being their only stable trade partner. China can easily pressure North Korea to do anything on the diplomatic scale and it sits back, letting the world know that North Korea is their problem not theirs. Thus now, the situation is in U.S. hands.

Now has Trump has abruptly retreated from the Vietnam conference with Kim Jong Un, what has he accomplished? He is now announcing that the U.S. will stop its military drills on South Korea, a pivotal maneuver in establishing U.S. presence on the Korean peninsula, in exchange for what? Nothing. Kim Jong Un is still running his nuclear factories and will still apply threats. That’s what Trump has accomplished within the last three years with North Korea, nothing. He now praises his own efforts and Kim Jong Un as if he has ushered in a new era of peace, but he is blind to see that he will not resolve a seven decade problem just because he has the mantle of the “Leader of the Free World”. His ideals about reunification and peace are a simple disgrace to our nation and an insult to the Korean people who suffer under Kim’s reign. His lack of understanding cultural history and just mere facts when it comes to the Korean problem is reflective of his intentions by conducting conference after conference. It’s all a show with little results.

Trump desires a Nobel Prize to satiate his own desire to materialize what he sees as progress on the Korean Peninsula; his intentions of solving the actual problem are sketchy and limited at the same time as he not just fails to solve the problem at hand, but seems to be more attuned to promoting this whole show to make himself look better. It is even more disappointing if he is trying his best to solve the problem as he is using the same tactic which was used for Hitler before World War Two, appeasement. Just like how appeasement went for Britain, this whole North Korean show will blow up in Trump’s face by giving Kim Jong Un what he wants in moving U.S. influence off the peninsula and weakening U.S. response to any action North Korea takes. Trump and his administration are failing not just the people of the U.S., but the world as his attempts disappoint all with no resolution in sight.

We as Americans need to realize that North Korea is not a problem that can be solved overnight, but it is one which will take some of the most talented diplomats and extreme international pressure. Our President needs to take into account the history and culture behind North Korea to solve anything. He cannot merely use it as an excuse for a Nobel Prize. Most importantly, American citizens are instrumental in this effort if we are to stop North Korea. People need to learn that North Korea will keeping being treacherous. All people, government officials or not, need to comprehend that the threat of nuclear apocalypse is very real with North Korea. We cannot be passive about this issue. When danger looks us in the eye, we stare back at it. We must be vigilant and informed, because if we aren’t, then who will stop Kim Jong Un?

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