Netanyahu is not the only world leader doing a good job of influencing U.S. leadership. In South Korea, President Moon Jae-in has overcome numerous ideological differences with his American counterpart to become a key partner in the push to defuse tensions with North Korea. He has followed a strategy similar to Netanyahu’s: Rather than trying to win over an entire government with facts and figures, just aim straight for Trump.
Like Israel’s prime minister, Moon has shown an understanding that Trump is big on visuals. The pageantry of last week’s inter-Korea summit appears to have been designed to sway Trump, who is suggesting he wants to host his own summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Panmunjom, the border village where Moon and Kim met.
While almost nothing of practical consequence resulted from last week’s meeting, Andrei Lankov, a professor of Korean studies at Kookmin University in Seoul, wrote for NK News that the feel-good glitz — and positive review from Trump — was exactly the point.
