After over a year of heightened tensions in the Korean peninsula, the nuclear threat could be behind us.
The constant threats from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un had caused the United States to station over 28,000 United States troops in South Korea. This was due partly to the threats being leveled against the United States, and partly due to the threats that were made against South Korea and Japan.
While the future of North Korea was uncertain for months, Jong Un has finally met with other world leaders, and the possibility of a “peace treaty” is on the horizon.
According to the New York Times, this possibility has caused President Trump to order the military to prepare for the possibility that the United States pull its troops out of South Korea.
“Officials declined to say whether Mr. Trump was seeking options for a full or partial reduction of troops, though a full withdrawal was unlikely. They emphasized that rethinking the size and configuration of the American force was overdue, regardless of the sudden flowering of diplomacy with North Korea.”
While the military is prepared for any possible outcome from the talks with North Korea, not everyone is convinced that Jong Un will comply with what would be needed for America to be comfortable with moving troops out of the area.
One of those still skeptical is Defense Secretary Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis. He said in an interview last week that he had some concerns about the future of our military presence in the area possibly being withdrawn:
“That’s part of the issues that we’ll be discussing in negotiations with our allies first, and of course with North Korea,” he said. “For right now, we just have to go along with process, have the negotiations and not try to make preconditions or presumptions about how it’s going to go.”
President Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong Un is an event that many never expected to happen, considering the violent threats made by Jong Un against the United States. However, the President was persistent in assuring the dictatorship of the repercussions that would rain down on his country if they began a war with the United States or its allies. That message seems to have finally gotten through, and peace might finally be on the table.
H/T: New York Times, New York Post