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US President Donald Trump speaks to the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 19 (EPA/Yonhap News)

Donald Trump went on a verbal rampage in a Sept. 19 address before the UN General Assembly, using coarse and belligerent language and talking about how he would “totally destroy” North Korea. It’s unprecedented for a US President to deploy this kind of invective before the UN, standing in a “temple of peace” and sending the message that he is unafraid of war.

Trump attacked not only North Korea but also Iran and Venezuela as “rogue nations.” It was reminiscent of 2002, when then-President George W. Bush denounced North Korea, Iran, and Iraq as an “axis of evil.”

Yet even Bush’s “axis of evil” remarks were made on the domestic stage, in a State of the Union address. It is a shock to the international community for language like this to be used by the world’s biggest power in the halls of the UN General Assembly before around 29 heads of state and 193 member countries. Not for nothing did the Washington Post describe Trump as sounding “like a mob boss.”

Trump’s rhetoric was nothing but provocation. He derided North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a “Rocket Man” who is “on a suicide mission for himself and his regime.” He did not offer anything in the way of realistic solutions on the North Korean nuclear issue either. The international community’s fear is that this kind of talk from Trump may lead not to Pyongyang giving up its nuclear program in the face of the military threat, but rather steeling its determination not to abandon it. The reference to “totally destroying” North Korea was particularly inappropriate, as it comes across as threat not just to Kim but to the lives of all 25 million North Koreans.

In the end, Trump is only helping Kim, whose regime will surely use Trump’s remarks to rally its people. Judging from this, he seems interested only in delivering a hardline message to his domestic supporters, rather than solving the North Korean nuclear problem. That’s evident in the way he appeared before the UN General Assembly, a forum for international cooperation, and sent an unabashedly “America first” message about protecting US interests ahead of anything else.

It was a deeply irresponsible speech by Trump, and one that will certainly only fan international fears and contribute to the precariousness of the Korean Peninsula’s current situation. At times like this, the South Korean government needs to be all the more clear about its commitment to not allowing war on the peninsula and to solving the North Korean nuclear issue through peaceful means. Instead of being held captive to the North Korea policies of an unrestrained Trump, President Moon Jae-in needs to make it clear to the members of the US that he intends to get through the peninsula’s crisis with a combination of pressure and dialogue.

North Korean Ambassador to the UN Ja Song-nam leaves the General Assembly before the scheduled speech of President Trump (AP/Yonhap News)

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