Trump should meet Kim Jong Un and make a deal to end the Korean War

Recently, President Trump made an effort to reduce long-planned joint military exercises in South Korea. Trump also restated a long-standing desire to open another summit with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un. 

Although the reduction decision was lambasted by critics as “risky” and the attempt to hold a summit was called “dangerous” or just a “distraction exercise,” perhaps a better question to ask is why so many in the U.S. are intent on continuing a war that began in Korea 76 years ago?

As the United States seeks to end conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, diplomatic efforts in Korea that could help promote peace and deescalate tensions should not be sidelined in favor of a dangerous status quo.

Historically, the United States helped ignite the Korean conflict by dividing Korea into North and South. Prior to 1945, the Korean Peninsula was brutally occupied for four decades by imperial Japan.

During World War II, the U.S. paid a bloody price to end the Japanese Empire. But rather than immediately grant Koreans their long-desired independence, the U.S. and Soviet Union divided the peninsula into two zones of occupation, ostensibly to help Korea safely transition to self-rule. A division meant to be temporary, however, became permanent because of the Korean War. 

Thousands of U.S. soldiers remained stationed in South Korea 76 years after the beginning of the Korean War. No peace treaty to formally end the Korean War........

© The Hill