Trump vs. Kim Jong-un

North Korea’s young dictator Kim Jong-un has pushed ahead with its nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that he thinks are the only ticket for its survival and that of his otherwise dysfunctional state. In the United States, a diplomatically inexperienced but America-first president, Donald Trump, has vowed to not let the North get its way. Clash or reconcile, Kim and Trump are expected to jockey for position, making the tension palpable for a while. The Korea Times roundtable invited Korea Times columnists with many years of journalistic experience and Park Jin, former lawmaker and experienced hand in foreign affairs, to take the pulse of the rising tension on the Korean Peninsula. For readers, we have set aside two excellent columns by Andrew Salmon and the follow-up piece by Park, which will be published over the next couple of days. ― ED.