“Trump administration’s initial security line assesses ‘North Korea’s ultimate goal is peaceful reunification'” (Comprehensive)

Former National Security Advisor’s Memoir: “Trump Enjoyed Discussing Previous Administrations’ Failures”
“Reject ‘Suppression Theory’ After Accepting North Korea’s Nuclearization, Instruct ‘Maximum Pressure and Isolation'”
“Conflict Between President Moon Regarding Nuclear Issue as ‘Defensive’ vs Pence as ‘Offensive’ During South Korea-US Summit”,
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Former US President Donald Trump during the 2018 North Korea-US Summit
[EPA News Joint Data Photo/Stray Times],
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, ‘ (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporters Go Il-hwan and Hwang Cheol-hwan = Evidence has emerged that former US President Donald Trump enjoyed discussions with his staff at the White House regarding North Korea’s denuclearization during his term.’,
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, ” According to the memoir ‘Battlegrounds: My Fight Against America’s Enemies at Home and Abroad’ by former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster published on the 27th (local time), reports and discussions on the North Korean nuclear issue continued at the White House after the Trump administration took office.”,
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, ‘ The discussions, mainly held in the White House situation room, involved not only McMaster but also former Defense Secretary James Mattis and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.’,
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, ” In particular, McMaster’s recollection is that former President Trump enjoyed mentioning the failures of previous presidents referred to as ‘stupid people’ regarding their approaches to the North Korean nuclear issue.”,
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, ‘ In relation to this, Matthew Pottinger, former Deputy National Security Advisor at the White House, even visually organized past failures in North Korea-US dialogues with materials such as photos and separately reported them to President Trump.’,
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, ” Following these reports and discussions, the conclusion reached by former President Trump was to exert ‘maximum pressure’ on North Korea.”,
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, ‘ The reason behind this directive was the belief that offering concessions to bring North Korea to the dialogue table, providing significant concessions through prolonged negotiations, only resulted in encouraging North Korea to develop nuclear weapons, leading to further provocations.’,
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, ” Accordingly, former President Trump instructed McMaster and other advisors to achieve ‘complete isolation’ of North Korea.”,
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, ” Furthermore, former President Trump emphasized to Chinese President Xi Jinping that if China were to support the Kim Jong-un regime, there would be a ‘price’ to pay.”,
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, ‘ McMaster, upon entering the Trump administration, noted that there were arguments, both among experts and within the government, advocating for acceptance of North Korea\’s nuclear weapons development following provocations.’,
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, ‘ There were bureaucrats who believed that recognizing North Korea as a nuclear-armed state and regulating the actual use of weapons would be the least likely to lead to conflict and would solve the problem economically.’,
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, ‘ However, McMaster and others did not agree with these arguments.’,
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, ‘ They assessed that North Korea, which could exert sufficient coercive power with conventional weapons alone, pursued nuclear weapons development because the Kim Jong-un regime aimed for reunification under its control.’,
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Former White House National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster
[EPA News Joint Data Photo. Redistribution and DB Prohibition],
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, ‘ Surrounding such perspectives, McMaster revealed that there were frequent clashes with the South Korean government among the key figures at the White House.’,
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, ‘ Prior to the summit between Trump and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in held in the White House on June 30, 2017, McMaster mentioned that “if the South Korean dialogue partner shows a possibility of negotiation with North Korea at any point, the language indicating such possibility should be included in the joint statement, implying that the South Korean government would take a leading role in efforts to engage in dialogue with North Korea.”‘,
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, ‘ He stated, “Subsequently, with Matt Pottinger, the Senior Director for Asia at the NSC, and Allison Hooker, the Senior Director for Korea Affairs, we emphasized the necessity of enforcement of sanctions language as essential to convince Kim Jong-un that denuclearization would be most beneficial for him.”‘,
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, ” McMaster recounted that following the summit and the joint press conference between the South Korean and US leaders, during a meeting held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C. with President Moon and Vice President Mike Pence at the time, it was mentioned that ‘Kim Jong-un believes nuclear weapons are necessary for defense similar to Saddam Hussein (former dictator of Iraq) and Muammar Gaddafi (former dictator of Libya).'”,
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, ‘ He indicated that Vice President Pence responded, “There are traditional cannons within reach of Seoul. Why does Kim Jong-un need nuclear weapons? We should consider the possibility that Kim Jong-un may desire nuclear weapons for offensive purposes.”‘,
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, ‘ He further added, “Such disagreements on what motivates Kim Jong-un created tension and conflicting views, and Vice President Pence, I, Pottinger, and others worked for months to resolve them.”‘,
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, ‘ McMaster also noted that on July 4, 2017, when North Korea first launched the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), he recalled that Jung Wook, the then Director of National Security at the Blue House, said after the National Security Council meeting, “The government was not prepared to label that missile as an ICBM.”‘,
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, ‘ To this, McMaster responded to the director, “Not labeling it as an ICBM does not mean it is not an ICBM.”‘, he added.’,
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, ‘ Additionally, McMaster disclosed that he, along with former Secretary of State Tillerson, Kerry Con, former Economic Advisor at the White House, and others, developed three principles regarding dialogue with North Korea and reported them to former President Trump.’,
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, ” These principles included ▲ Not hastily jumping into dialogue with North Korea for the sake of dialogue ▲ Not considering diplomacy and military options as separate measures ▲ Not prematurely lifting sanctions on North Korea just because they came to the dialogue table.”,
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, ‘ Appointed as White House National Security Advisor in February 2017 during the first term of Trump\’s presidency, McMaster was praised for serving as a check on Trump\’s unilateral and spontaneous policy implementation, but he, after frequent conflicts with former President Trump, was dismissed after just 13 months in March 2018.’,
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, ‘ [email protected]’,
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, ‘ [email protected]’,
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