Trump’s recent address will benefit our relationship with North Korea

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Shealah Craighead

President Trump at the podium during his 2018 State of the Union address.

Braeden Thompson, Guest Writer

President Trump’s first State of The Union Address is going to turn the tides for the relationship between the United States and North Korea, and it is going to positively affect everyone in the U.S.

In late January, Trump outlined the current state of the country, and his future plans for immigration, along with the current relationship with North Korea.

During his speech, he brought up North Korea, calling out its offenses against the U.S. He also brought attention to people that have been affected by Kim Jong Un’s rule, Ji Seong-Ho and Otto Warmbier.

Trump directly called out the harshness of Kim Jong Un’s rule. Trump said, “No regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea.”

Although it has been pointed out before, it is very effective that Trump said this on a national stage so largely broadcasted throughout America. It is effective because so many people heard these words being said, which shows them that eventually, positive change is coming.

In a Fox News article by Harry J. Kazianis outlining the effect that Trump’s State Of The Union speech will have with North Korea, Kazianis wrote, “For if it wasn’t clear by now, Team Trump is clearly laying down a marker: North Korea will be the foreign policy issue for this administration for the months and likely years to come.”

I believe that our relationship with North Korea is going to change in a positive way, both making the whole argument more intense which will eventually lead to Kim Jong Un backing down, and

Mayfield High School sophomore Yash Ghosh believes that there could be a positive future between North Korea and the United States. He said, “Well I feel like given the current state with what North Korea is doing with the Winter Olympics how they’re trying to negotiate with South Korea to open the borders a bit, let people in and out. That seems kinda progressive and if that’s their attitude towards the rest of the world especially given how roughly they’ve been hit with sanctions, then I think there is a future where we can get North Korea to be more open.”

In the same Fox News article by Kazianis, it was stated that when Trump announced Ji Seong-Ho, a North Korean defector that escaped the harsh rule of Kim Jong Un, he stood up and held his old crutches in the air. When he was in North Korea, his arm and leg were cut partially off by a train when he tried to steal coal to feed himself, and they were amputated without anesthetic.

Kazianis wrote, “Indeed, President Trump’s State of the Union speech showcased how the simple image of one man, standing up for freedom – in this case, the powerful symbol of a North Korean defector named Ji Seong-ho, hoisting his old crutches in the most compelling act of defiance I have ever seen against the Kim regime – can signal why North Korea’s fate is sealed.”

Ji Seong-ho is forever going to be seen as a symbol. He alone could be the end of North Korea’s threats. He symbolizes defiance against the harshest dictatorship in the modern world, and this is going to positively turn the tides on North Korea, changing the future of both North Korea and the United States.

Another person Pres. Trump brought up during his speech was Otto Warmbier. Warmbier was a 22 year old American college student that was detained in North Korea for over a year because he stole a propaganda poster.

In a CBS News article about Trump’s speech, it said, “Otto Warmbier’s parents attended the State of the Union as guests. Warmbier was detained in North Korea for than a year for allegedly stealing a poster. He died shortly after being released to the U.S.”

Although this was a very unfortunate event, Warmbier’s death is going to positively impact how North Korea and the US interact with each other. Now that so many people know about Warmbier’s death, they are gonna start fighting for change, which is going to make everyone realize how truly brutal Kim Jong Un’s rule is.

History Teacher Michael Hughes believes that the images of Ji-Seong Ho along with Mr. and Mrs. Warmbier were used just for show. He said Trump’s guests were “probably more for show” because the images of those people “give the president a face” and “focus the audience’s attention.”