Trump Whiptop Diplomacy Lee Jae-myung ‘Eliminating North Korea’s nuclear weapons will denuclearize the Korean Peninsula’
In U.S. President Trump's whipsaw diplomacy, President Lee Jae-myung declared that 'removal of North Korea's nuclear weapons means denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula' and downgraded it to 'my judgment on North Korea.'
At a New Year's press conference, President Lee unilaterally declared the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear program, saying, "If only North Korea does not have nuclear weapons, the Korean Peninsula can be denuclearized." He also said, "North Korea is nuclear-armed and desires to be officially recognized as a nuclear state," adding, "It is a desire to maintain and preserve the system," and defined North Korea as a "target for treatment under the Trump regime," saying, "The key is the relationship between North Korea and the United States."
Regarding President Trump’s repeated ‘unilateral declarations’, ‘threats of economic war’, ‘cancellation of everything’, ‘vague threats and insults’, and ‘revenge card declarations’ at the billionaires’ Davos Forum, the New York Times White House correspondent wrote in the title of <Trump’s Emboldened Whipsaw-like Worldview>, ‘He says there is a method to even madness. However, European allies are questioning whether the United States can be trusted anymore, it was reported on the 22nd.
At a New Year's press conference, President Lee Jae-myung spoke about the 'denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula' as an absolute ruler, saying, 'There are no nuclear weapons in the South, and there is no intention to possess nuclear weapons in the future,' and 'There are no nuclear weapons because there is no thought.'
President Lee went on to say that he would ‘disarmament negotiations’ only if North Korea ‘stops further nuclear production’ first, directly violating the ‘creating inter-Korean dialogue by prioritizing disarmament’ stipulated in the Panmunjom Declaration, and on this day declared that he would “restore” the inter-Korean military agreement, which is the follow-up implementation agreement to the Panmunjom Declaration.
President Lee then said to South Korea, "I have no intention of possessing nuclear weapons," separating them from the nation as a "personal idea," made it a fait accompli that the government's "possession of military nuclear weapons and accelerating nuclear development," elevated himself to an absolute ruler beyond the state, and unilaterally declared the "dismantling of North Korea's nuclear weapons," with regard to North Korea, saying, "If only North Korea does not have nuclear weapons, the Korean Peninsula will be denuclearized."
In particular, President Lee spoke of himself as the absolute ruler of the Korean Peninsula, saying, “North Korea is nuclear-armed and eager to be officially recognized as a nuclear state,” and “desire to maintain and preserve the regime.” Accordingly, he downgraded North Korea to a “target for treatment by the Trump regime,” saying, “The key is the relationship between North Korea and the United States,” and applied the international norm that “denuclearization of North Korea is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” as his control rule.
Based on this arbitrary rule, President Lee said, "President Trump is a slightly unique person, but I think that can be of great help in resolving the Korean Peninsula issue. A style like President Trump's seems to be helpful in dialogue with Chairman Kim Jong-un. So, let's pave the way for that." He formalized the matchmaking of the North Korea-US summit as Korea's main national task and foreign policy.
Regarding the Trump-style diplomacy shown at Davos, the NYT reported, "The volatility of President Trump's foreign policy approach shows how emboldened he has become in the first year of his second term," and "He has transformed the forum that symbolizes the Western establishment and the rules-based order he created into unlimited power."
The article continued, “He has long considered his unpredictability to be one of his strengths, saying that in his madness there is a way of getting deals done that differs from the tired routines of traditional diplomacy.” His allies point to trade concessions from Gaza, Venezuela, Iran, Panama and other regions and countries around the world as evidence that his techniques are paying off, he said.
The NYT continued, <His announcement followed a pattern of claiming to have won negotiations before key details were finalized.> When asked whether this included U.S. ownership of Greenland, President Trump paused. “It’s a long-term deal,” he added, without providing specifics.
“There have been no direct discussions between Denmark and the United States about the possibility of transferring sovereign lands to the United States,” said a senior Danish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.
Regarding Trump's bold statement, the NYT said, "With President Trump on the rise following the dramatic U.S. military raid that arrested Venezuelan leader Maduro this month, many Davos attendees knew that sparks could fly in the president's speech on Wednesday," and that "the vague threats and insults that followed remained in the minds of many even after he left."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took the same stage where President Trump had questioned the value of NATO a day earlier and characterized Greenland as a debt owed to the United States.
In his speech, Chancellor Merz said the United States is "fundamentally restructuring its foreign and security policy," adding, "America's global leadership position is being challenged. We have entered an era of great power politics. As we move forward, we must never forget one thing: A world where only power matters is a dangerous place. Dangerous first for small countries, then for middle powers, and ultimately for great powers."
He went on to criticize President Trump's insulting treatment of European allies, saying, "Democracy has no subordinates," and "They have allies, partners, and trusted friends."
Just before Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, a former bank president, gave a speech in Davos, President Trump posted an artificial intelligence photo of the American flag superimposed on a map of Canada on social media.
In response to Prime Minister Carney's speech on the 21st in Davos, President Trump directly refuted it the next day.
"Canada gets a lot of free stuff from us. FYI, they should be grateful too, but they're not," Trump wrote on social media.
The two did not meet again in Davos.
Prime Minister Carney refuted rhetorically on the 22nd. “Canada and the United States have built an incredible partnership in the areas of economy, security and rich cultural exchange,” Prime Minister Carney said. “But Canada is not alive because of the United States. Canada is prospering because we are Canadians.”
On the flight home from Davos that evening, President Trump announced on social media that he was withdrawing his invitation to Prime Minister Carney to join a “peace committee” for conflicts around the world.
Prime Minister Carney's speech in Davos on the 19th said, "We are reminded every day that we live in an era of great power competition," and "the rules-based order is disappearing. The strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must."
He went on to say, “Countries must stop talking to survive and to get along with President Trump,” and added, “Middle-of-the-road countries must act together, because if we don’t have our own table, we become prey.”
At a cabinet meeting in Quebec City on the 22nd shortly after returning home, he said, "There are literally billions of people who aspire to achieve what we have built: a well-functioning pluralist society. A noisy, diverse and free public square. An economy that provides widespread shared prosperity. A democracy that chooses to protect the most vulnerable from the powerful." “It can bend,” he said.
A former technocratic central banker, he suddenly became a global political star after returning from the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland, a gathering place for billionaires and President Trump.
NYT reported, “The audience, who normally gathered quietly at the annual gathering of billionaires, investors, CEOs, and politicians, gave Prime Minister Carney a special standing ovation at the end of his passionate 30-minute speech on the 21st.”
Reuters reported that EU leaders met in Brussels for an emergency summit late on Thursday, heaving a sigh of relief over Donald Trump's shift in stance on Greenland. EU leaders said they wanted to strengthen transatlantic cooperation, but warned they were ready to act if Trump threatened again, it was reported on the 23rd.
At the New Year's press conference, President Lee said, "The sharp coldness will not melt all at once, but we will consistently push for feasible measures that will win support from the North and ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula." He also said, "We will restore the September 19 military agreement to prevent accidental clashes between South and North Korea and build political and military trust." He insisted on ‘forced action’.
North Korea said that Chairman Kim Jong-un said at the Supreme People's Assembly in September of last year, "The budget for next year, which was passed for the first time under the Lee Jae-myung administration, reflects an 8.2% increase in military spending, far exceeding that of the Yoon Seok-yeol regime, which was notorious for its anti-Republican confrontation fanaticism," and that it was "more than double" compared to the 3.9% military increase under the Yoon regime. At the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party in January 2021, the "4/27 Panmunjom Declaration" He said, "We've gone back to the way things were before," and two things were said about South Korea: the introduction of advanced weapons and joint ROK-US joint exercises.
The AP said of Trump's strategy at Davos, "Attracting billionaires instead of the working class." "According to the Federal Reserve, since Trump's first term in 2017, the wealth of the richest 0.1% in the United States has increased from $11.98 trillion to $23.46 trillion. This increase far exceeds the amount received by the bottom 50% of households, or the majority of the nation, during the same period. Their net worth has increased by $2.94 trillion, or about a quarter of what the top 0.1% owns," and revealed the billionaires' high-income-generating structure.
The AP continued, “Trump frequently cites the investments of the rich and powerful as a sign of future economic growth,” and “To encourage billionaires to perform, Trump has pushed for artificial intelligence and financial regulatory policies that could benefit the wealthy in his first year, as well as tax cuts, easing IRS enforcement, and easing regulatory burdens on large investments.”
The Lee Jae-myung administration relied on expanding fiscal deficits as a maximum oversupply strategy, providing $650 billion in investment funds to the United States in the process of Korean conglomerates joining the ranks of Trump billionaires, and attempted to fulfill their election pledges by raising the KOSPI as the stock prices of the controlling groups of Samsung, SK, Hyundai, and Hanwha surged.
In his New Year's press conference, the president said, "All issues are about approaching them pragmatically," and "I am continuing to persuade them to find a way that is acceptable to both sides and helpful to everyone."
He added, "The main premise is to strengthen the nation's strength," pressuring North Korea to "accept my pragmatic judgment" and announcing its maximum military buildup system.
North Korea attempted to break the backbone of the Soviet socialist economic system through military buildup under pressure to intensify nuclear war under the supply-side conservatives of the Reagan administration. Soviet Perestroika tracked the economic cycle caused by oversupply in the capitalist countries and predicted the timing of the crash. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US financial crisis came, and North Korea appears to be waiting for a financial crisis in South Korea.
In the press conference, regarding North Korea's "declaration of separation of North and South," the president said, "As long as I am entrusted with the power of the people and run the state, my thought is to find a practical way that is helpful to the people of the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, the entire world, and even North Korea, and I will continue to pursue that," adding, "The basic premise is that it strengthens the country," completely replacing "North Korea's public announcement" with "my judgment."
Reuters reported that at a foreign press conference on December 3 last year, “President Lee used a charm offensive to manage high-risk relationships with Seoul’s key allies, praised Trump for acting as a ‘peace broker’ with North Korea, and presented a replica of a gold crown as a gift during his visit to South Korea,” and called Trump “a realist, pragmatist, and a master of deals who respect each other.”
Reuters went on to say that President Lee said, "I found the conversation with President Trump very interesting and entertaining. Perhaps I felt a sense of kinship." <The South Korean president said he hopes Trump can persuade North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to resume talks and that Pyongyang appears to be taking Washington more seriously than Seoul when it comes to maintaining power.>
Reuters reported on the 24th, “Kim Min-seok said he and Vance (U.S. Vice President) discussed how Washington could improve relations with North Korea and suggested to Trump that he consider sending a special envoy to Pyongyang.”
See <Inter-Korean military agreement ‘implementation of disarmament’ Lee Jae-myung ‘prioritizes military build-up’ violates Panmunjom Declaration, dated January 22, 2026>
<Greenland ‘base sovereignty’ military base ownership Trump NATO agreement ‘applied’ to US troops stationed in Korea, January 22, 2026>
<Trump's removal of Maduro, CIA non-diplomatic operation, Lee Jae-myung's 'help with Trump conversation', dated January 2026>
<Lee Jae-myung hides military build-up, ‘coexistence and co-prosperity’ Jeong Dong-young ‘North Korea-US summit comes first’ to break the socialist economy, December 19, 2025>
<Panmunjom Declaration, ‘disarmament’, ‘railroad connection’, inter-Korean conflict, May 18, 2019>