Bolton’s appointment fans worries over hawkish record in Asia
SEOUL: Once rejected by North Korea as ‘‘human scum’’, United States President Donald Trump’s latest pick for national security adviser has called for regime change in North Korea, prompting worries in Asia in the leadup to an historic summit between Washington and Pyongyang.
Trump announced in a tweet he was replacing H. R. McMaster with John Bolton, a former United States ambassador to the United Nations who has advocated the use of military force against North Korea and Iran and has previously been rejected as a negotiating partner by Pyongyang.
‘‘This is worrisome news,’’ Kim Hackyong, a conservative politician and head of the national defence committee of South Korea’s parliament, said.
‘‘North Korea and the United States need to have dialogue but this only fuels worries over whether the talks will ever happen.’’
At Seoul’s presidential Blue House, officials were circumspect.
‘‘Our stance is that if a new road opens, we have to go that path,’’ a senior Blue House official told reporters.
‘‘Bolton has much knowledge on the issues regarding the Korean peninsula and most of all, we know him to be one of the US president’s aides who is trusted.’’
He said Chung Euiyong, South Korea’s National Security Office head, had not yet spoken with Bolton and that Chung’s reaction to McMaster’s dismissal was ‘‘not bad’’.
Another administrative official in Seoul expressed regret over the loss of camaraderie McMaster had built with his South Korean counterpart as they had tackled North Korea’s nuclear issue together.
Bolton had described Trump’s plan to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as ‘‘diplomatic shock and awe’’ and said it would be an opportunity to deliver a threat of military action.
Former South Korean intelligence official Nam Sungwook said Trump may not even get the opportunity to deliver that message.
‘‘Bolton being tapped for this position makes for a very difficult situation where the USNorth Korea summit may not even happen. It’s going to be a rocky path even before the summit.’’
The meeting is supposed to be held by the end of May, but an exact time and place have yet to be settled on.
Pyongyang had no immediate comment about Bolton, whose criticism of thenNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Pyongyang’s human rights record in 2003 spurred state media to call him ‘‘human scum and bloodsucker.’’ — Reuters