The Man Who Can Help Trump Bring Peace to Korea
Columbia Professor of Genetics Joseph D. Terwilliger has an exceptional resume. Along with his post at an elite institution, he is an accomplished tuba player, speaks a multitude of languages, has traveled to nearly every country on Washington’s official enemies list, and served as translator for NBA legend Dennis Rodman when he traveled to North Korea to meet with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.
So, how did Terwilliger translate the conversation between two of the most fascinating people on the planet?
Part of the story involves his career as a geneticist. He spent years teaching at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. Unlike the perception most Americans have of North Koreans, Joe speaks highly of the people and paints a picture distinctly different from the Kim-run death cult that is often presented.
The other part involves Terwilliger making a $2,500 gamble. After Rodman made his first trip to North Korea, Joe saw an opportunity.
Terwilliger was in North Korea during Rodman’s first visit. He told the Libertarian Institute that he witnessed the students “[rethinking] their stereotypes about Americans” because Rodman was willing to say positive things about their country.
So, Joe won a game of HORSE against Dennis with a $2,500 silent auction bid. There, he and Rodman discussed a return visit to North Korea.
“[The] hope was to engage Kim Jong Un to try and build a relationship based on trust,” a mission Joe believes he was able to accomplish. “When we took the basketball players to [North Korea on Kim’s] birthday, [the supreme leader] remarked that we were the first Americans that ever kept their word.”
During Donald Trump’s first presidency, he showed a willingness to break with long-established policy in Washington, which has insisted that Pyongyang abandon its nuclear weapons before any talks can begin.
Of course, Kim would never give up his nuclear arsenal, as it serves as a deterrent to an attack from the United States. But that does not mean relations with the DPRK could not improve.
In 2018, Trump and Kim met in Singapore and signed a deal meant to create a roadmap for a more substantial agreement in Hanoi the next year. During the second summit, rather than present Kim with a peace deal, Trump allowed his ultra-hawkish National Security Adviser John Bolton to sabotage the talks.
Bolton exploited his position at the table to demand North Korea follow the “Libya-model” of denuclearization. Invoking Libya as an example raised immediate red flags for Kim, as the long-time Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was subjected to a regime change by NATO and roadside execution after giving up his nuclear program.
Terwilliger said the examples of Libya and Iraq were recounted to him by Kim during his trip to North Korea. “Kim told me Gaddafi gave up his nukes in exchange for security guarantees, and then we killed Gaddafi. [Iraqi leader Saddam Hussien] let nuclear inspectors in – they found nothing – and we killed Saddam anyway.”
He added that Kim further recounted that Pakistan, a nuclear weapons state, harbored Osama bin Laden, and the U.S. did not go to war with Islamabad.
Trump made a historic trip to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to again shake hands with Kim in 2019. Unfortunately, by this late date Trump was unable to turn the summit into a more substantial diplomatic effort.
For the past four years, the world has been subject to the dictates of the feeble Joe Biden and his inept staff, who have attempted to cover up the president’s weakness by waging war across the globe.
In the Asia-Pacific, Biden returned to the previous policy of refusing to engage with Pyongyang unless Kim forfeited his nukes.
However, Biden was also committed to Trump and Barack Obama’s military buildup targeting China. That policy calls to create more alliances between the United States and Asia-Pacific nations for a future war with the People’s Republic.
While Washington claims the blocs have no hostile intentions, Beijing and Pyongyang see the growing military presence near their waters as a significant threat.
Combined with the mistake of refusing to engage with Kim, Biden also sought to isolate Russia from the rest of the world as punishment for President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Predictably, this only pushed Moscow to form closer relations with its Asian neighbors. During the Biden administration, Putin has significantly strengthened Russia’s military ties with both North Korea and China.
With the recent pact between Pyongyang and Moscow – which includes a mutual defense agreement – is it too late for the United States to make a deal with North Korea? Tensions have steadily increased with hundreds of missile tests, dueling war games near the border, and frequent American deployments of nuclear-capable weapons platforms to the Korean Peninsula.
Donald Trump has pledged to end wars, not start them. If he wants to be a peacemaker, why not start in Korea?
Terwilliger believes there is an opportunity for diplomacy, and he could be just the man to do the job. He is one of the very few people in the West who knows Kim personally. Joe is a libertarian who is dedicated to peace. His familiarity with North Korea, gained from his years of teaching there as well as his knowledge of the Korean language, make the perfect combination to ink a heretofore elusive deal with the DPRK.
“I think they mistrust us, but trust building is needed, and there is a personal relationship Trump and I have with the North Koreans that can be used for good.” Terwilliger emphasized, “The objective should be exchange of ambassadors, end of war treaty and an agreement about peaceful coexistence of North and South Korea without the baggage of unification issues or denuclearization.”
Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, opinion editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter and Connor Freeman.
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