Trump Once Pushed for 'End of War Declaration,' Japan Opposed... Bolton Memoir Claims

Bolton: "North Korea Presented Unacceptable Conditions to Block 'End-of-War Declaration'" Thoughts
Reveals Uncomfortable and Biased Views Toward President Moon Jae-in

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Ahead of the North Korea?U.S. summit in June 2018, it has emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to push for a declaration of the end of the Korean War, but Japan exerted opposing influence. It has also been claimed that during the South Korea?U.S. summit held in April last year, President Moon Jae-in informed President Trump that Japan occasionally made historical issues a point of contention.

The memoir "The Room Where It Happened" by former White House National Security Council (NSC) advisor John Bolton, scheduled for release on the 23rd (local time), contains these details. He revealed what he heard and saw while preparing for the first North Korea?U.S. summit held in Singapore on June 12, 2018, showcasing his role as a hardline 'neocon' key figure.

According to the memoir, Bolton had lunch with President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo one week before the North Korea?U.S. summit. Trump was "caught up in the expectation that he would be able to say he ended the Korean War," and emphasized that he "thought the (end-of-war declaration) should never be given away for free."

He also claimed that President Trump viewed the end-of-war declaration as a promotional tool but did not consider its international implications.

Furthermore, Bolton included Japan's actions at the time in his memoir. He appeared to take Japan's stance seriously. Japan frequently expressed wariness toward the end-of-war declaration that the Moon Jae-in administration hoped for.

Bolton recalled, "We knew that Japan would be particularly uneasy about the possibility that we might make concessions (on the end-of-war declaration)," and said he wanted to hear from Sh?tar? Yachi, Director of Japan's National Security Secretariat, who visited Washington, D.C. He wrote that "Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Washington, D.C. during the G7 summit in Canada to persuade President Trump not to make too many concessions to North Korea."

Bolton evaluated the conversation between President Trump and Prime Minister Abe at the time as beneficial. He described, "Prime Minister Abe told President Trump that North Koreans are people who stake their lives on their regime and are very tough and cunning politicians. If you think of this as a recurring ordinary event, they will revert to old ways."

Later, Bolton recalled in his memoir that after discussions with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he thought they should block the end-of-war declaration by raising North Korea's basic demands that were unacceptable, such as declarations on nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Ultimately, the joint statement of the June 12 North Korea?U.S. summit did not include an end-of-war declaration.

The memoir also reveals an uncomfortable and biased view of President Moon Jae-in. According to the memoir, during the lunch at the South Korea?U.S. summit on April 11 last year, when President Trump asked about South Korea?Japan relations, President Moon reportedly said that Japan sometimes made historical issues a point of contention.

Bolton wrote that President Trump asked whether South Korea could fight alongside Japan as allies, and President Moon replied that while military exercises with Japan were possible, the presence of Japanese troops in South Korea would remind the people of the past. Furthermore, he claimed that President Moon said they would fight united if Japan’s Self-Defense Forces did not set foot on Korean soil but did not want an answer.

He then expressed a highly subjective and biased stance, stating, "Like past Korean political leaders, President Moon tried to overturn the 1965 treaty between the two countries," and "It was not Japan but President Moon who raised historical issues, for his own purposes."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.