Yahoo News North Korea expert calls Donald Trump ‘unread, narcissistic and racist’ ahead of Kim Jong-un talks
An expert on North Korea has branded Donald Trump “unread, narcissistic and racist” ahead of the US president’s summit with Kim Jong-un.
The two men are scheduled to meet on February 27 and 28 in Hanoi, Vietnam, their second meeting following their talks in Singapore last year.
But Robert E Kelly, professor of political science at Pusan National University in South Korea, launched a Twitter attack on Mr Trump ahead of the talks.
He wrote: “At the risk of repeating the blindingly obvious, Trump has no idea what he is doing.
“He is an unread, narcissistic, racist reality TV who couldn’t care less about US power in Asia or US allies there.”
Seeing a lot of stuff on Twitter @ how the same old hawks are responding to Trump-Kim 2 with the same old pessimism & why don't they want rapprochement & peace. This is inaccurate, bc it sidesteps the elephant in the room: Trump is leading the talks. This, not talks themselves,/1
— Robert E Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly) February 24, 2019
Prof Kelly criticised the upcoming summit, adding: “This isn’t about peace in Asia, S Korea, US national security, and so on. It’s a vanity project for Trump.
“So yes, talking to NK is good, but Trump’s motivations – Nobel, a political ‘win’ for domestic reasons, lots and lots of TV coverage – are all wrong. Bc of that, who knows what he will agree to?”
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Meanwhile, Mr Trump said North Korea could become one of the world’s “great economic powers” if it gives up its nuclear weapons.
He said North Korea has “more potential for rapid growth than any other” country.
“We both expect a continuation of the progress made at first summit in Singapore,” he tweeted.
Vietnamese officials are scrambling to finish preparations for the summit.
Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019
Officials in Hanoi said they had about 10 days to prepare for the summit – much less than the nearly two months they said Singapore was given for the first Trump-Kim meeting last year – but still vowed to provide airtight security for the two leaders.
“Security will be at the maximum level,” said Vietnamese deputy minister of foreign affairs Le Hoai Trung.
Nguyen Manh Hung, leader of the information ministry, said the 3,000 journalists from 40 countries expected in Hanoi could rely on his agency as “you’d count on a family member”.
The world will be watching as Mr Trump and Mr Kim deal with one of Asia’s biggest security challenges: North Korea’s pursuit of a nuclear programme that stands on the verge of viably threatening any target on the planet.
Although many experts are sceptical that Mr Kim will give up the nuclear weapons he probably sees as his best guarantee of continued rule, there was a palpable, carnival-like excitement among many in Hanoi as the final preparations were put in place.
T-shirts were being sold bearing Mr Kim’s face along with the phrase Rocket Man, a nod to the insulting nickname Mr Trump gave him in 2017, when North Korean weapons tests and back-and-forth threats by the leaders had many fearing war.
Youngsters dressed in traditional Korean Hanbok were practising songs meant to welcome Mr Kim. Grinning tourists were posing in front of the hundreds of US and North Korean flags around the city.
The ultra-tight security will be appreciated by North Korean authorities, who are extremely vigilant about the safety of Mr Kim, the third member of his family to rule the North with absolute power.
Mr Kim’s decision to travel to Vietnam by train, not by plane, may have been influenced by better ability to control security.
When Mr Kim flew to Singapore, North Korea borrowed a Chinese plane.
Mr Kim may get off his train in Dong Dang and finish his journey to Hanoi by car.
There are high expectations for the Hanoi summit after a vague declaration at the first meeting in June in Singapore that disappointed many.
In a meeting with senior aides in Seoul, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the Trump-Kim talks would be a critical opportunity to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula.
