Gordon Chang: "Kim Jong Un Was Intimidated By Donald Trump"

'Daily Beast' columnist and Stanford University professor of East Asian history Gordon Chang comments on the developments this month in North Korea.





GORDON CHANG: I think that actually, Kim Jong Un, the North Korean ruler, was intimidated by Donald Trump. Remember at Mar-a-Lago a couple of Thursdays ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping was standing next to Trump at dinner, and Trump told him that the U.S. had just launched tomahawk strikes on Syria --a Chinese friend. And from all acounts, Xi Jinping was stunned.



I think whatever competence they had that they had figured Trump out was lost, and I believe, but I can't prove this, that Xi Jinping went back and talked to the North Koreans to tell them not to do anything provocative until they have a better handle on Trump.



So now, the North Koreans, who have been so used to intimidating everybody else, creating a sense of tension, have now met their match in the American president...



We have to look at what happened -- or what hasn't happened. Everyone expected the North Koreans to detonate that sixth nuclear test by April 15, which is the Day Of The Sun -- the 105th anniversay of the founder Kim il Sung. The biggest day in the calendar. Nothing happened.



We had after that the launch of the medium-range ballistic missile that failed -- but that wasn't what people were looking for. And we have Kim Jong Un now, he had threatened to launch a long-range ballistic missile. He hasn't done that.



On the 85th anniversay of the founding of the Korean Peoples Army, which is today. They didn't do anything.



The question is: Why not? I'm suspecting Kim Jong Un took one look at Donald Trump and thought, I'm not taking this guy on.



