‘Do not underestimate us’
Trump warns NKoreans in speech to South’s lawmakers
SEOUL, South Korea — President Donald Trump warned North Korea not to “try us” in a speech delivered Wednesday, hours after his surprise visit to the heavily fortified Korean demilitarized zone was thwarted by bad weather.
In a speech to the South Korean National Assembly, Trump called on all nations to join forces “to isolate the brutal regime of North Korea — to deny it any form of support, supply or acceptance,” according to excerpts released by the White House.
“Today, I hope I speak not only for our countries, but for all civilized nations, when I say to the North: Do not underestimate us. And do not try us.
“We will defend our common security, our shared prosperity, and our sacred liberty.”
The president told the lawmakers that he wants “peace through strength.”
He also said life under the leadership of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is “so bleak” that North Koreans bribe government officials to leave the country so they can work as slaves.
Trump had been scheduled to make the unannounced early morning trip to the DMZ amid heightened tensions between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
Marine One left Seoul at daybreak and flew most of the way to the DMZ but was forced to turn back just five minutes out due to poor weather conditions. Reporters traveling in a Chinook helicopter as part of the president’s envoy saw fog, and weather reports from near the heavily fortified border showed misting conditions and visibility of less than 1 mile. Pilots, officials said, could not see the other helicopters in the air.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president was “pretty frustrated. It was obviously something he wanted to do.”
Before Trump left for Asia, a White House official had ruled out the DMZ trip, claiming the president didn’t have time on his schedule and that DMZ visits have become a little cliche. But Sanders said the visit had been planned well before Trump’s departure for Asia; the trip was kept secret, Sanders said, for security reasons.
Ever the showman, Trump had teased at a banquet on Tuesday evening that he had an “exciting day” planned Wednesday — “for many reasons that people will find out.”
Visiting the border that has separated the North and South for 64 years has become something of a ritual for U.S. presidents trying to demonstrate their resolve against North Korea’s aggression. Every president since Ronald Reagan, save for George H.W. Bush, has made the trip.
The attempted visit was scheduled for the day after Trump made a striking shift in tone for a president who for months has issued increasingly dire threats to answer any hostile North Korean action with “fire and fury.”
On Tuesday, his first day on the Korean Peninsula as president, Trump signaled a willingness to negotiate as he urged Pyongyang to “come to the table” and “make a deal.” He also he had seen “a lot of progress” in dealing with Pyongyang, although he stopped short of saying whether he wants direct diplomatic talks.
There’s no public sign of any diplomatic progress between Washington and Pyongyang. U.S. officials say the back channel between the State Department and the North Korean mission at the United Nations in New York remains intact.