The United States has always protected South Korea against North Korea, even though North Korea did not present a direct threat to us, because South Korea is a nation with whom we have shared values. While we undoubtedly have the capability to annihilate the North Korean regime, we have never attempted to do so, because North Korea could inflict untold damage on South Korea while the fighting is ongoing.
By all accounts, the North Korean government is making progress in its ability to deliver a nuclear weapon that can reach the US mainland. They might well reach that threshold during the first few years of a Trump Administration.
To Trump, South Korea isn’t an ally; it is an economic competitor that “beats us at trade” by selling us exploding phones, while benefiting from our military protection. We have no moral obligation to consider the well-being of such nations; it is, of course, “America First.”
Do you think President Trump would be deterred by the prospect of millions of South Korean dead if he believed a preemptive attack on North Korea was necessary to prevent them from building a weapon that could reach the US?
You can see where this is going. As John Madden would say, “BOOM!”
If you live in South Korea, and you’re not worried about this, you’re making a mistake.