After his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, South Korean President Moon Jae-In alluded to a possible candidacy of Donald Trump to the Nobel Peace Prize

Leer en español: ¿Ganaría Donald Trump el Nobel de la Paz?

On Monday, April 30, the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-In, at a press conference after the historic meeting with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un, said that his US counterpart, Donald Trump, "should win the Nobel Peace Prize" for his efforts to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The comment took place only three days after the historic summit in which the North Korean leader crossed the border with South Korea, and spoke of the possible denuclearization of the peninsula and the end of the war between the Koreas.

As a result of the petition suggested by Moon, a group of Republican congressmen formally proposed President Donald Trump as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize to "recognize his work to end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula and bring the peace to the region". The candidacy is proposed in a letter addressed to The Norwegian Nobel Committee, in which 18 congressmen signed the petition.

To achieve the long-awaited award, Trump would join the list of US presidents in obtaining it in development of its presidential function. In 2009, Barack Obama was recognized with the award less than two years after coming to the White House and became the first president in office to do so since Woodrow Wilson in 1919. The argument under which Obama won the Nobel was the promise to close Guantanamo, to withdraw US troops from Iraq and to fight for peace in the Middle East. However, even today none of these actions has been completed.

Trump and his speech to North Korea

In an analysis made by Reuters it is stated that "the Trump administration has led a global effort to impose increasingly stringent sanctions on North Korea and the president of the United States exchanged bellicose threats with Kim last year on the development of nuclear missiles in North Korea able to reach the United States". This raises doubts if peace has really been sought, or if coercion and dissuasion have been the tools that the American tycoon has used.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-Wha, in an interview with CNN said "Trump is primarily responsible for bringing Kim Jong-Un to the negotiating table." However, CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour recalls that thanks to China and the pressure exerted by this country the North Korean regime was on the ropes.

Kyung-Wha is not wrong to claim that Trump led this pressure to Kim Jong-Un, but we can not forget all the actors who have been behind including the president of South Korea. For the South Koreans, Trump is the hero with the determination to show that he is not afraid of a warlike confrontation. However, this is a risk that Asia can not afford, which is why it also gave in to US pressure.

Kim Jong-Un's attitude is now more friendly. At the summit last Friday, April 27, he was pleased to talk about the need for peace, and even invited South Korean and US officials to witness denuclearization. This is an attitude that can derive, as it may not, from the pressure exerted by Donald Trump.

Trump plans to meet with Kim in late May or early June, at an unprecedented summit for which neither the exact date nor the location has yet been set. Although the US president praised the summit of the two Koreas, he also assured on Twitter that if the meeting with the North Korean leader is not going well he will not hesitate to leave the table. A position that does not show much interest in consolidating the peace of the peninsula and its candidacy for the Nobel Prize.

Latin American Post | Carlos Eduardo Gómez Avella

Translated from "¿Ganaría Donald Trump el Nobel de la Paz?"