It’s not an endorsement many prospective US presidents would ask for, but North Korea, the demagogic pariah state and sworn enemy of the USA, is backing Donald Trump, according to state media in the…
ADVERTISEMENTIt’s not an endorsement many prospective US presidents would ask for, but North Korea, the demagogic pariah state and sworn enemy of the USA, is backing Donald Trump, according to state media in the DPRK.
North Korean state newspaper, DPRK Today, praised the Republican nominee, describing him as a “wise politician” and “far-sighted candidate” who could help unify the Korean peninsula.
Trump made headlines recently when he said that he was prepared to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to try to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear program, and that China should help to solve the problem.
The editorial said that promising to resolve issues on the Korean peninsula through “negotiations and not war” was the best option for America, which it said is “living every minute and second on pins and needles in fear of a nuclear strike” by North Korea.
“There are many positive aspects to Trump’s inflammatory policies,” wrote Han Yong-mook, who described himself as a Chinese North Korean scholar.
“Trump said he will not get involved in the war between the South and the North, isn’t this fortunate from North Korea’s perspective?”
Analysts commented that although the editorial was not officially from Pyongyang, it was sure to reflect thinking inside the regime.
Trump has said in the past he would withdraw all US troops from abroad, and the article picked up on this, especially referring to a speech in March in which Trump suggested he would withdraw US military forces from Seoul if South Korea did not increase spending on defence.
“Yes do it, now … Who knew that the slogan ‘Yankee Go Home’ would come true like this? The day when the ‘Yankee Go Home’ slogan becomes real would be the day of Korean Unification.”
The article admonished Seoul to do as Trump says, and to not increase defence spending so as to spark a US withdrawal.
Seemingly the reclusive, dynastic state is not the biggest fan of his likely Democratic rival Hillary Clinton though, who was described as “thick-headed”.
“The president that US citizens must vote for is not that dull Hillary – who claimed to adapt the Iranian model to resolve nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula – but Trump, who spoke of holding direct conversation with North Korea.”
Trump has had an ambivalent relationship with Supreme Commander, Kim Jong-un, often changing his mind about the 33-year-old dictator.
At a rally in January, Trump said “you’ve got to give him credit”. By February he decided that “this guy’s a bad dude”, adding “I would get China to make that guy disappear, in one form or another, very quickly” – although refusing to be drawn on whether he meant assassinated.
It’s not the first time a leader seen as controversial in the US has praised Trump: in December the presidential hopeful said he was ‘honored’ to hear that Russian president Vladimir Putin had praised him as a ‘very outstanding man’ who was ‘unquestionably talented’.
“It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond,” Trump responded in a statement.