South Koreans fear that Donald Trump is 'kind of nuts' as nuclear crisis escalates
As North Korea continues to provoke the West with repeated nuclear weapons tests, it is feared that South Korea could be among the first targets if North Korea finally decides to strike.
And it seems that South Koreans are not sure that Donald Trump is the man to bring about an end to the crisis.
In fact, they reportedly think that he is “kind of nuts”.
The stark comments, reported by the Washington Post, reflect how South Koreans are struggling to deal with Trump’s approach, compared to the relatively measured diplomacy of his predecessor Barack Obama.
‘They think they’re dealing with an unreasonable partner and complaining about it isn’t going to help – in fact, it might make it worse,’ said David Straub, a former State Department official who dealt with both Koreas and recently published a book about anti-Americanism in South Korea.
‘Opinion polls show South Koreans have one of the lowest rates of regard for Trump in the world they don’t consider him to be a reasonable person.
‘In fact, they worry he’s kind of nuts, but they still want the alliance.’
Yesterday, it was reported that North Korea was moving what appears to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) towards its west coast, according to reports.
The manoeuvre follows North Korea’s latest nuclear test, which was met with international condemnation.