President Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize after his extraordinary efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, at least according to the South Korean president.
Last week, North Korean president Kim Jung-un and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in held a historic meeting in the “demilitarized zone,” which is sandwiched between the two embattled nations.
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In the extraordinary exchange before the gaze of the international media, the South Korean president invited Kim Jong-un to step over the border threshold into the Southern territory – at that moment, he became the first North Korean leader to enter the nation since the end of the Korean war in 1953.
Now, President Moon has recommended that President Trump receive the coveted diplomatic honor for his work in bringing North Korea to the point of making a decision to denuclearize its weapons arsenal.
“President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. What we need is only peace,” the South Korean leader told a cabinet meeting on Monday, according to the Independent. Back in January, Moon said Trump “deserves big credit for bringing about the inter-Korean talks. It could be a resulting work of the U.S.-led sanctions and pressure.”
In many ways, the bestowing of such an honor would be fitting considering the President’s remarkable progress in both aiding North-South relations – the border zone of which is the most militarized area in the world – and setting the course for achieving the ultimate goal of denuclearization. Indeed, previous winners of the hallowed prize include:
- The International Atomic Agency, for their “efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way,” according to Wikipedia.
- The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, for “authoritative information and by creating an awareness of the catastrophic consequences of atomic warfare.
- The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, for “its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.”
- And most recently in 2017, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, for “its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”
Last year Trump’s rhetoric towards North Korea escalated in ferocity. Tensions mounted as the U.S. slapped the communist nation with massive economic sanctions and the president promised to rain down “fire and fury” on North Korea if they continued to threaten a nuclear attack on the United States.
Then, in a speech to the UN General Assembly last September, the President said that if America “is forced to defend ourselves or our allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
Since then, the relations between the US and North Korea have greatly improved. On 9 January 2018, North Korea agreed in negotiations with South Korea to send both athletes and a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics. Following North Korea’s decision to participate in the February games, which was hosted in South Korea, and Jong-un’s shrewd diplomatic move to have his countrymen march underneath the Korean unification flag, meetings were arranged between a South Korean delegation and North Korea’s supreme leader.
The handshake that made history. pic.twitter.com/JB09Ce9mHt
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 27, 2018
Then, in March of this year, Trump became the first President in US history to accept a meeting with the leader of the oppressive communist nation. In meetings at the White House in March, South Korean national security director Chung Eui-yong said he had passed on a message that Mr. Kim was “committed to denuclearization” and “pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests.”
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said the news “came like a miracle,” according to the BBC. “If President Trump and Chairman Kim meet following an inter-Korean summit, complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will be put on the right track in earnest,” he said at the time.
Trump is expected to meet with Kim Jong-un himself in the next three to four weeks.
Just had a long and very good talk with President Moon of South Korea. Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set. Also spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan to inform him of the ongoing negotiations.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2018
Today, Trump tweeted about a possible location for the historic meeting, revealing that “numerous countries are being considered.”
Numerous countries are being considered for the MEETING, but would Peace House/Freedom House, on the Border of North & South Korea, be a more Representative, Important and Lasting site than a third party country? Just asking!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 30, 2018
Former President Barack Obama is the only US President to have ever been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Despite being awarded the honor back in 2009, in an appearance on the Late Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Obama explained how he still wasn’t quite sure why it was given to him.
“Really, what was that for?,” enquired Colbert. “To be honest, I still don’t know,” Obama jokingly responded.
According to NobelPrize.org, the former President was given the price “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”