North Korea is utterly and completely confused by President Donald Trump, a North Korean official recently revealed.
“He might be irrational—or too smart. We don’t know,” Pak Song Il, the North Korean man tasked with understanding the president, told a New Yorker writer in a recent visit to Pyongyang.
Pak analyzes American news and politics for the North Korean government, but since the election, he has focused his attention on trying to sort out Trump. “When he speaks, I have to figure out what he means, and what his next move will be,” he revealed, adding, “This is very difficult.”
The Trump administration has presented a lot of confusing rhetoric on the North Korea situation, which has grown much more complicated since the rogue regime successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile and a possible thermonuclear weapon that can be mounted on a missile.
The Department of State has talked frequently of dialogue, and the Department of Defense has repeatedly emphasized the importance of a diplomatic solution.
Trump, however, has said many times that all options, including the military option, are on the table. The president has called North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un both a “madman” and a “smart cookie,” in one instance saying that he “would be honored” to meet him but later tweeting that “talking is not the answer.” Trump has spoken of mutual respect, as well as raining down “fire and fury” on North Korea in response to threats from Pyongyang, warning that if Kim Jong Un forces America’s hand, it will be a “very sad day” for the North.
“If he’s not driving toward a point, then what is he doing? That is our big question,” Pak explained.
It is difficult to know if Trump is doing what he’s doing on purpose or not.
“The element of surprise wins battles. So, I don’t tell the other side what I’m doing, I don’t warn them, and I don’t let them fit me comfortably into a predictable pattern,” the president wrote in his book “Great Again: How To Fix Our Crippled America,” adding, “I don’t want people to know exactly what I’m doing — or thinking. I like being unpredictable. It keeps them off balance.”
Trump may be intentionally attempting to confuse an enemy that the U.S. and its allies have struggled to get a read on for decades, or perhaps he is simply reacting to North Korea’s provocations as they arise rather than proactively addressing the issue, a situation the U.S. has been in for years.
When it comes to analyzing the U.S., Pak also looks beyond the presidency to the American people, questioning whether or not this country is prepared for what would almost certainly be a catastrophic conflict.
“Is the American public ready for war?” he asked, “Does the Congress want a war? Does the American military want a war? Because, if they want a war, then we must prepare for that.”
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