This is probably also a big part of the equation, I agree.

In other words, he isn't scared of losing Korea because he sees Korea as a valuable ally. He's scared of losing leverage in negotiations and throwing away more money down the road. To an extent I think Korea recognizes this and its why return of operational control is so high on the priority list.

Sure, I do think he is playing nice at the moment to smooth things over. My concern is though that he is playing nice to suck in Korea (and others) only to again extort more later. If he's harsh always and cannot keep Korea linked to the US he has no leverage in his extortion.

Pretty clear Trump has no problem with that evil. Said as much himself the other day in that 60 minutes interview.

Yes and no. He's doing this for everybody when it comes to trade. South Korea was singled out pretty harshly, in Asia at least, when it came to security and taking advantage of the US. Maybe in Trumpiverse if he gets the money via trade extortion he doesn't need to threaten on the security end?

If you go to good sushi restaurants or grilled meat restaurants people will tip. Especially the sushi restaurants. And especially the regulars. That’s how you get the best service

Not surprised. Seems in line with Bridge Colby’s ideas before the admin began. Not sure if they’re smart enough to realize it but the US doesn’t have to worry too much at the moment about SK moving close to China because of the vitriolic anti-China sentiment. So tying SK down makes less sense now

They do. Or at least are willing to tolerate him. They put millions into his inauguration fund

I agree. And that with everything going on this won’t make it into the MSNBC news cycle