Short synopsis of Carter's 1994 meeting with Kim Il Sung

— Dr. Mark P. Barry (@drmarkpbarry.bsky.social) 2024-12-29T23:02:04.034Z

Oberdorfer ('97): “Suddenly a diplomatic-military crisis took on new political dimensions, as it played out on CNN around the world. To the consternation of the White House, the press saw administration officials as bystanders while a private citizen, Jimmy Carter, appeared in control of US policy.”

— Dr. Mark P. Barry (@drmarkpbarry.bsky.social) 2024-12-30T21:31:22.305Z

How Jimmy Carter Stopped the Second Korean War – The Diplomat thediplomat.com/2025/01/how-…

— Dr. Mark P. Barry (@drmarkpbarry.bsky.social) 2025-01-06T19:22:03.380Z

Photo at top: Former President Jimmy Carter meets President Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, DPRK, on June 16, 1994 (DPRK photo given to Jimmy Carter; courtesy The Carter Center).  Top two posts are based on this author’s personal records of that time as well as from Douglas Brinkley’s The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter’s Journey Beyond the White House.

Transcript of the main question asked of me (at 18:08 in the interview):

Photo at top: President-elect Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 7, 2025, the day after his election was certified by Congress.

1/ Major Korean papers this morning analyse the second impeachment in two weeks. "Acting president of acting president" (권한 대행의 대행) creates what editorials describe as a triple crisis in politics, economy, and security.

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty.bsky.social) 2024-12-28T01:58:23.688Z

Full 15-post thread unroll via Skyview, summarizing the political analyses of Saturday’s major South Korean newspapers, here.♦

Photo at top: Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party protest to South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, above, during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 27, 2024.

Yoon was an effective ROK leader in South Korea's overall diplomacy. But in Trump's probable view, Yoon turned the clock back on North Korea by ignoring Trump's efforts with Kim and exacerbating tensions with the DPRK since 2022. Trump may prefer a new ROK leader he can deal with through his term.

— Dr. Mark P. Barry (@drmarkpbarry.bsky.social) 2024-12-07T20:01:19.261Z

Photo at top: President Yoon Suk Yeol bows in apology to the South Korean public during a press conference at the presidential office in Seoul on Dec. 7.

This photo (and video) of Ahn Gwi-ryeong, 35, a spokesperson for South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party, grabbing the weapon of a soldier outside South Korea’s National Assembly building after the Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, has been shared widely online. BBC story here.

The failure of the Biden team to promptly condemn an attempted coup in South Korea is disgraceful. The best thing the US could have done would have been to firmly signal opposition to martial law.

— Jeffrey Lewis (@armscontrolwonk.bsky.social) 2024-12-03T18:07:59.219Z

Photo at top: Soldiers try to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul on December 4, 2024, after South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law at 10:25 pm KT on Dec. 3.

If there ever will be another Trump-Kim meeting, which is unlikely unless Putin prods Kim to do so, it will surely be held in Pyongyang so that Trump has to travel to him. And that will have to take place only after Kim makes his first visit to Moscow.

— Dr. Mark P. Barry (@drmarkpbarry.bsky.social) 2024-11-28T04:41:27.118Z

Photo at top: Kim Jong Un meets President Trump at the MDL in Panmunjeom on June 30, 2019.

On November 21, I was a guest, along with Dr. Kim Young-jun, Professor at the National Security College, Korea National Defense University, on Arirang News’ “Within the Frame” public affairs program to discuss North Korea, Russia, and Ukraine after Ukraine’s expanded use of U.S.-made ATACMS missiles. We also discussed Kim Jong Un’s recent speech to KPA battalion commanders in which he expressed fear of a “third world war.” Many thanks to host Kim Mok-yeon for her questions.

Here is the video:

Photo at top: Kim Jong Un attended a military hardware exhibition, Defence Development-2024, in Pyongyang on Nov. 21.

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On October 30, I was a guest, along with Dr. Go Myong-hyun, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, on Arirang News’ “Within the Frame” public affairs program to discuss North Korea and Ukraine. Many thanks to host Kim Mok-yeon for her questions. Here is the video:👇🏻

I was also a guest on Oct. 28 on BeFM radio’s flagship “Morning Wave in Busan” program, interviewed by host Katherine Bang on the same topic. I thank her for allowing a very broad discussion.

Here is the video segment:👇🏻

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In both interviews, I tried to convey that, absent an incontestable landslide victory on Election Day for Kamala Harris, Donald Trump will simply declare himself President-elect up-front, well before all votes are counted (which may take days or weeks), asserting he has the emphatic backing of the American people, and he may imply he is the “Acting President” who must now, in effect, run the country because President Biden, allegedly, is no longer capable to (despite the upcoming APEC and G20 summits this month he’s expected to attend).

Trump may then begin to conduct a parallel foreign policy to that of the Biden/Harris administration from Trump Tower or Mar-a-Lago well before the final election outcome is known, with phone calls to Putin, Netanyahu and other world leaders.  This possibility will severely test American democracy, in the midst of North Korean troop deployment in the Ukraine war. Trump is increasingly “psychologically preparing Americans for an assault on the electoral system, a second January 6,” even if he knows he’s lost.♦