South Korean President Moon Jae-in has raised some eyebrows with the suggestion that Donald Trump should receive a Nobel Peace Prize.
Responding to a letter from one of South Korea’s past first ladies calling for Moon to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Moon said: “It's President Trump who should receive the Nobel Prize. We only need to take peace.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He has previously said the US President deserved “big credit” for the recent thawing in relations with North Korea, The Independent reports.
The suggestion might seem bold, but the success of Friday’s inter-Korean summit means Moon has “the political capital to make these kinds of statements about Trump, however eyebrow-raising they may be to his domestic constituents”, says NPR.
Since Moon’s landmark talks with Kim Jong Un on Friday, Pyongyang has said it is to close a nuclear testing facility and bring the North Korean timezone into line with the South, while Seoul has agreed to cease loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts at the border.
Trump is set to meet Kim within weeks for the first-ever talks between sitting US president and a North Korean leader.
The image of Trump being crowned as a peacemaker on the level of Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela was met with incredulity by some on social media:
But for his admirers, it was a moment to crow about:
One person likely to approve Moon’s sentiment is Trump himself, who has repeatedly attributed the fresh hope for peace on the peninsula to his own policies:
-
Shots fired in the US-EU war over digital censorshipIN THE SPOTLIGHT The Trump administration risks opening a dangerous new front in the battle of real-world consequences for online action
-
What will the US economy look like in 2026?Today’s Big Question Wall Street is bullish, but uncertain
-
Alaa Abd el-Fattah: should Egyptian dissident be stripped of UK citizenship?Today's Big Question Resurfaced social media posts appear to show the democracy activist calling for the killing of Zionists and police
-
Shots fired in the US-EU war over digital censorship
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The Trump administration risks opening a dangerous new front in the battle of real-world consequences for online action
-
Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Is Europe finally taking the war to Russia?Today's Big Question As Moscow’s drone buzzes and cyberattacks increase, European leaders are taking a more openly aggressive stance
-
Pushing for peace: is Trump appeasing Moscow?In Depth European leaders succeeded in bringing themselves in from the cold and softening Moscow’s terms, but Kyiv still faces an unenviable choice
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
