FOREIGN POLICY/NORTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump starts the longest and most anticipated trip of his first year in office on Saturday, a 10-day excursion that boasts stops in five Asian countries. But the biggest focus will be on where he isn’t going: North Korea.
Pyongyang’s desire to be considered a global nuclear power—and the rest of the developed world’s attempt to undermine that ambition—will be a theme of every bilateral meeting, economic discussion and commercial announcement on the trip.
The lengthy tour will help define Mr. Trump’s approach to China and provide the White House an opportunity to take steps to narrow its trade deficit with Asia’s economic powers, administration officials said. But the president’s top priority will be managing relationships with North Korea’s neighboring countries and pushing to exert even more pressure on Pyongyang’s defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons, his advisers said…
The president’s itinerary underscores the message he aims to send to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The first half of his trip will be spent in three of Mr. Kim’s closest neighbors: Japan, South Korea and China. He finishes with visits to Vietnam and the Philippines, two countries hosting international summits.”
-Michael C. Bender, “North Korea Will Be Top Subject for Trump During Asia Tour,” The Wall Street Journal online, Nov. 3, 2017 05:30am