Global stocks sank Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said he was not satisfied with talks that are aimed at averting a trade war with China. Equities were also dented by poor eurozone economic data, and as Trump cast doubt on a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Trump (is) continuing to drive uncertainty over global trade,” said analyst Joshua Mahony at trading firm IG. “European markets are following their Asian counterparts lower, as a pessimistic tone from Trump is compounded by downbeat economic data,” he added. Markets had surged Monday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said they had agreed to pull back from imposing threatened tariffs on billions of dollars of goods, and continue talks on a variety of trade issues. However, Trump has declared that he was “not satisfied” with the status of the talks, fuelling worries that the world’s top two economies could still slug out an economically pain...
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is a rational politician and the US needs to understand that to deal with the nuclear-armed country, a top Central Intelligence Agency Korea expert said Wednesday.
“Beyond the bluster, Kim Jong-Un is a rational actor,” said Yong Suk Lee, the deputy assistant director of the CIA’s Korea Mission Center.
“We have a tendency in this country to underestimate his conservatism.”
“He wants to rule for a long time and die in his own bed,” Lee said at a conference on the CIA at George Washington University.
US politicians including President Donald Trump have repeatedly painted Pyongyang’s strongman as irrational and “crazy.”
But Lee said Kim’s focus is to stay in power, as shown by the brutal murder in Malaysia in February of his half brother Kim Jong-Nam, which has been blamed on Pyongyang agents.
“All politics is local,” he said of the North Korean milieu.
The country’s long history of being surrounded by greater powers, too, means that the country is constantly on the defensive, and its leaders play that up.
“North Korea ia a political organism that thrives on confrontation,” Lee said.
But Kim’s fierce defense of his position and his combativeness against Washington does not mean he will act irrationally now that he has the capacity to fire a nuclear tipped missile at the United States.
“Waking up and deciding to nuke Los Angeles is not in his interest to survive,” he said.
“Beyond the bluster, Kim Jong-Un is a rational actor,” said Yong Suk Lee, the deputy assistant director of the CIA’s Korea Mission Center.
“We have a tendency in this country to underestimate his conservatism.”
US politicians including President Donald Trump have repeatedly painted Pyongyang’s strongman as irrational and “crazy.”
But Lee said Kim’s focus is to stay in power, as shown by the brutal murder in Malaysia in February of his half brother Kim Jong-Nam, which has been blamed on Pyongyang agents.
“All politics is local,” he said of the North Korean milieu.
The country’s long history of being surrounded by greater powers, too, means that the country is constantly on the defensive, and its leaders play that up.
“North Korea ia a political organism that thrives on confrontation,” Lee said.
But Kim’s fierce defense of his position and his combativeness against Washington does not mean he will act irrationally now that he has the capacity to fire a nuclear tipped missile at the United States.
“Waking up and deciding to nuke Los Angeles is not in his interest to survive,” he said.
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