Donald Trump criticized South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s remarks about the former President that Moon made in a recentNew York Times interview.
“Kim Jong-un of North Korea, who I have gotten to know (and like) under the most trying of circumstances, never respected the current President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in,” Trump said in a statement released on Friday. “I was always the one that stopped the aggression toward the South, but unfortunately for them, I am no longer there. President Moon was weak as a leader and as a negotiator, except when it came to the continued, long term military rip-off of the USA (as is the case with many other countries we protect!).”
Trump was referring to his efforts to renegotiate the United States and South Korea’s military burden-sharing agreement. “The United States had been treated like fools for decades, however, I got them to pay billions of dollars more for the military protection and services we render,” he added. “The Biden Administration is not even going to ask for the additional billions South Korea agreed to pay. All the USA now wants is a simple cost of living increase of 1% on the money I raised from them.”
Trump was pointed in his criticism of the current South Korean administration.
“The South Koreans are laughing all the way to the bank. Fortunately, before leaving office, I was able to make a new and FAR BETTER Trade Deal than what was in place. The deal will lead to billions of dollars in profits for the Great Farmers and Manufacturers of our Country!”
Last month, South Korea agreed to increase payments to the United States to support stationing 28,500 troops in the country. South Korea will pay the U.S. government 1.28 trillion won ($1 billion) in 2021, a 13.9 percent increase over 2020.
Trump’s comments on Friday came after the New York Times published an interview with Moon on Wednesday in which he argued that Trump’s diplomacy with North Korea had been a failure.
“He beat around the bush and failed to pull it through,” Moon said of Trump’s North Korea strategy in the interview. “The most important starting point for both governments is to have the will for dialogue and to sit down face to face at an early date.”
During the interview, Moon went on to justify Seoul’s decision to suspend negotiations on military cost-sharing with the Trump administration. “His demand lacked reasonable and rational calculation,” Moon said of Trump’s approach to negotiations.
Supporters of Moon in South Korea expressed their anger toward Trump after his statement was released. On online communities that many of Moon supporters use, there were comments calling Trump a “crazy guy” and “senile has-been.”
They called President Moon the “king of diplomacy,” and “best negotiator.” Another comment said that “President Moon is the best negotiator that played the other best negotiator, Trump.” Supporters of Moon argued that “Our President Moon is someone who has the guts to says what he needs, even to the United States, when it comes to the national interest.”
Another comment took aim at Moon’s choice of publication.
“This is why President Moon interviewed with the New York Times, which is considered a pro-Biden media outlet. We have to get a good score from Biden during the final period of the Moon administration. Even if Trump calls us ungrateful, this is the only chance we have. [The ruling South Korean] Democratic Party must win in next presidential election.”
Moon Jae-in said, “I hope that Biden will go down as a historic president that has achieved substantive and irreversible progress for the complete denuclearization and peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula,” in his interview.
“Mr. Biden, [President Moon] meant to say that the Nobel Peace Prize is yours. We should forget about and keep distance from Trump since his images are really bad,” wrote a pro-Moon supporter in response.
South Korea’s Blue House told domestic media outlets that “it is not proper to mention a former president’s remarks from a foreign country.” Local media reported that officials inside the Blue House are saying that, “Former President Trump is someone who says whatever he wants to, anyway.”
Meanwhile, many former diplomats and online users in South Korea wrote and commented that President Moon’s interview in the first place was a diplomatic failure, which expressed rare criticism of the former president of Seoul’s key ally, the United States. “Does Moon know anything about diplomacy?” one comment said. “He does not have any respect for the former president of South Korea’s ally, and stabbed him in the back as he does to others in domestic politics.”
