Politics
Kim Jong Un Raises Pressure on South Korea to Split With Trump
- Moon looking at raft of economic measures with North Korea
- Pyongyang has shown no sign of interest in Seoul’s offers
Kim Jong Un
Photographer: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
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Both North Korea and left-leaning supporters of South Korean President Moon Jae-in want him to restore economic ties broken by security tensions. But pleasing them would mean angering U.S. President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, North Korea said it was closing down communication links set up two years ago between Moon and Kim Jong Un, jeopardizing the South Korean leader’s 2017 campaign promise to move the heavily armed rivals toward a permanent peace. It’s bad timing for Moon: His ruling bloc secured a historic supermajority in National Assembly elections in April, boosting calls within his Democratic Party to mend ties with North Korea.