President Donald Trump may have sent the fanatical dictator of North Korea, Kim Jung Un, into hiding. A leading expert on the short, chubby Kim would not be surprised if he is hiding following the U.S. missile strike against Syria.
Gordon Chang, a Daily Beast columnist and author of “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On The World,” said “Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, disappeared from public view for about six weeks in 2003 at the time of the Iraq war. Kim Jong Un loves the public spotlight, and it will be telling if he similarly goes into hiding.”
Trump met with China’s president earlier this week in Florida. Perhaps he told North Korea’s ally it would be a good idea for their little despot to take a hike for the duration. The president had already announced the U.S. was prepared to act independently against North Korea, should China not assist in demanding a halt to their nuclear weapons program.
That threat holds merit now with the surprise U.S. missile attack against Syria on Thursday.
Chinese Leader Xi Jinping’s words after the Syrian strike can be construed as moderate. He had become dismissive of the U.S. Navy and its course of action in recent weeks towards China’s ongoing “island building” in the South China Sea.
Trump is not Obama and he isn’t taking months to plan military actions. The Chinese leader knows that now. The U.S. is running out of options in dealing with the threat posed by the North Korean leader. The president is adamant about a military option to get North Korea to denuclearize and not weaponize intercontinental ballistic missiles.
It appears this president follows through when he makes a threat. The Chinese are now seeing a very different sort of American foreign policy and are duly noting it. The North Korean dictator would be wise to move forward accordingly.
