Bolton: "Trump Agrees on Preemptive Strike Against North Korea Even After Pyeongchang Olympics"

"Moon Emphasizes Kim Yo-jong's Visit as His Own Success for Domestic Politics"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Even after the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics ended, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly expressed agreement with the idea of a preemptive strike against North Korea.

Former White House National Security Council (NSC) advisor John Bolton detailed the situation in early March 2018, before the schedule for the first North Korea-U.S. summit was finalized, in his memoir "The Room Where It Happened," released on the 23rd (local time). This was just after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics had concluded.

Bolton gave a negative assessment of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. In his book, he criticized, "President Moon Jae-in emphasized the visit of Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un, as his own success for domestic politics." He also pointed out that the South Korean government covering the participation costs of the North Korean team was a regrettable pattern unrelated to the Olympic spirit. Furthermore, he stated, "South Korea's leftists worship the Sunshine Policy, believing that treating North Korea well will bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, but in reality, it only means subsidizing the North Korean dictatorship."

After the Pyeongchang Olympics, as Chung Eui-yong, director of the Blue House National Security Office, visited Pyongyang as President Moon's special envoy, hopes for a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear crisis spread. However, Bolton reportedly maintained his stance on a preemptive strike. In March 2018, Bolton met with then-White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and two others in President Trump's office, where he argued, "What Kim Jong-un wants now is to buy time to complete the development of missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads," and "Now is the time when Kim Jong-un fears military force the most."

Regarding the preemptive strike theory, the book states that President Trump also expressed agreement that economic sanctions alone could not achieve the goal of North Korea's denuclearization. However, Bolton revealed that he was not sure if President Trump fully understood his argument and reminded him of the fact that North Korea was selling chemical weapons to Syria.

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