North Korea leader Kim Jong-un’s nuclear arsenal is the only thing keeping in power and that talks with South Korea will do little to deescalate tensions between the rogue regime and Donald Trump, DeSantis said.
Speaking to Fox News, he said: “I think Mike Pompeo, the CIA Director, probably has a pretty good read on it.
“There may be some small positives regarding the Olympics but it’s probably not going to evince any major changes in Kim Jong-un’s strategic outlook.
“I mean, this is a guy who wants to hold on to power at all costs.
“He’s running a country that’s effectively a prison and that nuclear arsenal is really the thing that’s keeping him there and that’s the calculation he’s made thus far.”
He also said the President Donald Trump deserved credit for being the first president to take the threat from North Korea seriously.
He said: “I think he does deserve credit, I think he is the first President, really in a while to actually take this problem seriously.
“For eight years Obama basically just let it fester, there wasn’t anything before that. Clinton has a deal which was basically a ‘paper tiger’ and was a failure so I give the President credit for engaging on it.
A paper tiger is the English translation of a Chinese word meaning something that seems threatening but is ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge.
DeSantis continued: “I think Kim Jong-un is worried about the President because I think this President has shown he’s willing to follow through with his word.”
In his New Year Day’s speech, Kim Jong-un admitted he was open to start negotiations with South Korea with regard to the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County.
South Korean officials were seen crossing Unification Bridge for face-to-face talks for the first time in over two years.