Source:
https://scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2144099/south-president-moon-jae-says-trump-deserves-nobel-peace-prize
Asia/ East Asia

South Korean President Moon Jae-in says Trump deserves Nobel Peace Prize

Moon’s Nobel Prize comment was in response to a congratulatory message from the widow of late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, in which she said Moon deserved to win the prize, according to an official

South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaking with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (unseen) during the inter-Korean summit in the Peace House building on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom. This photo was taken on April 27 and released on April 29 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Photo: AFP / KCNA via KNS

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said US President Donald Trump deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the stand-off with North Korea over its nuclear weapons programme, a South Korean official said on Monday.

“President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. What we need is only peace,” Moon told a meeting of senior secretaries, according to a presidential Blue House official who briefed media.

Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Friday pledged at a summit to end hostilities between their countries and work toward the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) walking with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the official summit Peace House building for their meeting on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom. This picture was taken on April 27 and released from North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 29. Photo: AFP / KCNA via KNS
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) walking with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the official summit Peace House building for their meeting on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom. This picture was taken on April 27 and released from North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 29. Photo: AFP / KCNA via KNS

Moon’s Nobel Prize comment came in response to a congratulatory message from Lee Hee-ho, the widow of late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, in which she said Moon deserved to win the prize, the Blue House official said.

Moon responded by saying Trump should get it.

The upcoming Trump-Kim meeting was the main subject of a private walk and chat that Kim and Moon had during their meeting at the border, the official said.

Trump said his summit with Kim would take place in the next three to four weeks.

The Trump administration has led a global effort to impose ever stricter sanctions on North Korea, and Trump exchanged bellicose threats with Kim in the past year over North Korea’s development of nuclear missiles capable of reaching the United States.

In January, Moon said Trump “deserves big credit for bringing about the inter-Korean talks. It could be a resulting work of the US-led sanctions and pressure”.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) and US President Donald Trump prepare to give a joint press conference at the White House in Washington in June last year. Photo: AFP
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) and US President Donald Trump prepare to give a joint press conference at the White House in Washington in June last year. Photo: AFP

Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize just months into his presidency, an award many thought was premature, given that he had little to show for his peace efforts beyond rhetoric.

Even Obama said he was surprised, and by the time he collected the prize in Oslo at the end of that year, he had ordered the tripling of US troops in Afghanistan.

As well as Obama, three US presidents have won the Nobel Peace Prize: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter.

Trump on Monday suggested his planned meeting with Kim take place at the Peace House on the border between North and South Korea.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that Trump would maintain a “pressure campaign” of harsh sanctions on North Korea until Kim scraps his nuclear weapon programme.