Trump and Kim Jong-un, Reenacting Bromance...? "North Korea, Deployed to Russia, Now a Headache"

There is an analysis that the North Korea issue could become a headache for President-elect Donald Trump as he prepares to re-enter the White House. This is because last month, North Korea deployed a large number of troops to Russia, causing the whirlpool of the Ukraine war to ripple through international affairs.

During his first term and throughout this election race, President-elect Trump has flaunted his past friendship with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.

On the 26th, one day before the North Korea-U.S. summit, Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea (left), arrived at Dong Dang Station in Lang Son Province, Vietnam, near the border with China, waving to the welcoming crowd. U.S. President Donald Trump also waved as he headed to 'Air Force One' at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, experts say that the situation now is completely different from back then, as Trump secures his second ticket to the White House.

Regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, Russia, which had been cooperating with South Korea and the United States to a limited extent, has drawn a line with the West again by invading Ukraine, marking the full-scale onset of a 'new Cold War.'

Karishma Vaswani, an Asia political expert and Bloomberg columnist, wrote on the 7th (local time) in an op-ed titled "Trump Will Walk Into the North Korea Headache," diagnosing that "current sanctions and economic penalties against North Korea and Russia are not working."

Benjamin Engel, a visiting professor at Dankook University, evaluated in an interview with the U.S. North Korea specialist media NK News that it is uncertain whether President-elect Trump can dramatically change relations with North Korea.

Professor Engel said, "He still claims to have a positive relationship with Kim Jong-un, but Kim Jong-un has moved toward a closer relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin."

From Kim's perspective, there is no incentive to give up what he currently receives from Russia for what Trump might promise, and Engel asked, "Kim Jong-un has been burned once. Why would he risk getting burned again?"

Lee Joon-do, an expert at the U.S. think tank RAND Corporation, said, "Considering the shock experienced at the Hanoi North Korea-U.S. summit, I do not think Kim Jong-un is likely to come to the negotiating table under conditions similar to complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization (CVID)."

He predicted, "Looking at recent developments such as the constitutional amendment in September last year and the launch of the Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), North Korea is more likely to attempt negotiations on the premise of being recognized as a legitimate nuclear power by the United States."