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| North Korea Applauds Donald Trump’s Threat to Pull Troops From South | North Korea Applauds Donald Trump’s Threat to Pull Troops From South |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| SEOUL, South Korea — Donald J. Trump’s proposals for upending American policy toward the Korean Peninsula have found a receptive audience in at least one place: North Korea. | SEOUL, South Korea — Donald J. Trump’s proposals for upending American policy toward the Korean Peninsula have found a receptive audience in at least one place: North Korea. |
| On Wednesday, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party published a commentary praising Mr. Trump’s threat to pull American troops out of South Korea if elected president, unless Seoul pays more for their presence. It said the threat had shocked South Korean policy makers, who it characterized as servants of America, a standard theme of the North’s propaganda. | On Wednesday, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party published a commentary praising Mr. Trump’s threat to pull American troops out of South Korea if elected president, unless Seoul pays more for their presence. It said the threat had shocked South Korean policy makers, who it characterized as servants of America, a standard theme of the North’s propaganda. |
| “The tragedy is that the South’s authorities are incapable of feeling any national shame, no matter how their American masters subject them to an unbearable humiliation,” read the commentary in the newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. “Their attitude is best shown by the way they got scared by Trump’s comments and groveled.” | “The tragedy is that the South’s authorities are incapable of feeling any national shame, no matter how their American masters subject them to an unbearable humiliation,” read the commentary in the newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. “Their attitude is best shown by the way they got scared by Trump’s comments and groveled.” |
| In a March interview with The New York Times, Mr. Trump accused South Korea of not contributing enough toward the cost of keeping tens of thousands of American troops in the country, suggesting he might withdraw them if elected. | In a March interview with The New York Times, Mr. Trump accused South Korea of not contributing enough toward the cost of keeping tens of thousands of American troops in the country, suggesting he might withdraw them if elected. |
| He further unsettled South Korean officials by declaring in May, during an interview with Reuters, that he would be willing to negotiate directly with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, to try to stop the North’s nuclear arms program. “I would have no problem speaking to him,” Mr. Trump said. | He further unsettled South Korean officials by declaring in May, during an interview with Reuters, that he would be willing to negotiate directly with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, to try to stop the North’s nuclear arms program. “I would have no problem speaking to him,” Mr. Trump said. |
| At first, Mr. Trump’s remarks were largely dismissed in South Korea, but the news media here sounded a growing alarm about them as it became clearer that he would become the Republican nominee. “It is scary just to imagine Trump, who often doesn’t remember what he has said, getting elected president and manipulating Korean Peninsula issues by drastically shifting his positions,” a South Korean newspaper, Kyunghyang Shinmun, wrote in an editorial in May. | At first, Mr. Trump’s remarks were largely dismissed in South Korea, but the news media here sounded a growing alarm about them as it became clearer that he would become the Republican nominee. “It is scary just to imagine Trump, who often doesn’t remember what he has said, getting elected president and manipulating Korean Peninsula issues by drastically shifting his positions,” a South Korean newspaper, Kyunghyang Shinmun, wrote in an editorial in May. |
| South Korean officials have told reporters that they are trying to reach out to Mr. Trump’s policy advisers in hopes of persuading him that the American military presence here benefits the United States as well as South Korea. | |
| The Rodong Sinmun article was the second about Mr. Trump to appear in North Korea’s state news media in two days. On Tuesday, a lesser propaganda outlet, the website DPRK Today, carried what it called an opinion piece submitted by Han Young-muk, whom it identified as an ethnic Korean scholar in China. Such articles are seen as having less authority than official commentaries in Rodong Sinmun, which hew closely to the party line. | The Rodong Sinmun article was the second about Mr. Trump to appear in North Korea’s state news media in two days. On Tuesday, a lesser propaganda outlet, the website DPRK Today, carried what it called an opinion piece submitted by Han Young-muk, whom it identified as an ethnic Korean scholar in China. Such articles are seen as having less authority than official commentaries in Rodong Sinmun, which hew closely to the party line. |
| Mr. Han wrote that Mr. Trump had a greedy, “wolflike mind,” and accused him of trying to secure America a “free ride” by having South Korea pay for the troops’ presence. But he said the policy would be a godsend for the North, if South Korea refused to pay more and the troops were pulled out. | Mr. Han wrote that Mr. Trump had a greedy, “wolflike mind,” and accused him of trying to secure America a “free ride” by having South Korea pay for the troops’ presence. But he said the policy would be a godsend for the North, if South Korea refused to pay more and the troops were pulled out. |
| “Leave now! Hurry!” Mr. Han wrote. “Who knew that the ‘Yankee Go Home’ slogan we shouted so enthusiastically could come true so easily like this? The day that the ‘Yankee Go Home’ slogan becomes reality would be the day Korea is unified again.” | “Leave now! Hurry!” Mr. Han wrote. “Who knew that the ‘Yankee Go Home’ slogan we shouted so enthusiastically could come true so easily like this? The day that the ‘Yankee Go Home’ slogan becomes reality would be the day Korea is unified again.” |
| North Korea has long called for the withdrawal of American troops from the South, where they have been based since the Korean War ended without a peace treaty more than 60 years ago. Pyongyang calls them a source of military tension on the peninsula and an obstacle to Korean reunification. The North also wants direct dialogue with Washington to discuss the troops’ removal. | North Korea has long called for the withdrawal of American troops from the South, where they have been based since the Korean War ended without a peace treaty more than 60 years ago. Pyongyang calls them a source of military tension on the peninsula and an obstacle to Korean reunification. The North also wants direct dialogue with Washington to discuss the troops’ removal. |
| Neither of the North Korean articles this week mentioned Mr. Trump’s suggestion in the March interview with The Times that Japan and South Korea should have their own nuclear arsenals so they would be less dependent on the United States for protection. | |
| In the DPRK Today article, Mr. Han praised Mr. Trump’s apparent willingness to talk to Mr. Kim, saying the real estate mogul had proved to be a “wise politician” and comparing him favorably with Hillary Clinton, his likely Democratic opponent. | |
| “The candidate the Americans must choose is not the thickheaded Hillary, who tries to apply an Iranian model to solve the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula, but Trump, who says he will try to solve it through direct dialogue with us,” Mr. Han said. | “The candidate the Americans must choose is not the thickheaded Hillary, who tries to apply an Iranian model to solve the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula, but Trump, who says he will try to solve it through direct dialogue with us,” Mr. Han said. |
| Still, the writer said American policy toward the North was unlikely to change regardless of who was elected in November. Mr. Trump’s “reckless campaign promises,” he wrote, were just “a ploy to win the election.” | Still, the writer said American policy toward the North was unlikely to change regardless of who was elected in November. Mr. Trump’s “reckless campaign promises,” he wrote, were just “a ploy to win the election.” |