[New Square 10] The criteria for selecting Trump's 2nd term... "Knife handle" to Musk?

■ Host: Anchor Park Seok-won
■ Starring: Kim Yeol-soo, Director of Security Strategy at the Military Research Institute

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN New Square 10AM] when quoting.

[Anchor]
The era of Trump's second generation is approaching. Administration appointments are taking place one after another. Our government is also paying attention to changes in alliances and foreign policy. Let me talk to the experts in detail. We invited Kim Yeol-soo, head of the Security Strategy Division of the Korea Institute for Military Studies. Welcome.

President Biden and President-elect Trump met yesterday, and they've been fighting very hard so far. You looked a little friendly yesterday.

[Kim Yeolsoo]
In 2020, when Biden was elected president at the time, he had to actually take over. But at that time, President Trump didn't invite him. But this time, President Biden invited President-elect Trump to take over. At the same time, it seems that we had a friendly time despite fighting so fiercely for two hours, as we expressed our smooth appreciation for the transition of the regime.

[Anchor]
There are a number of things that are noteworthy, and one of them is that they discussed the Ukraine war and the Middle East, and I wonder if they will accept the keynote or express their opposition as they have been in conflict so far.

[Kim Yeolsoo]
I'm in the opposite position. And maybe Trump will just say he knew what President Biden was talking about. The reason is that the policies are different, but they can't be done together.

[Anchor]
The second administration is gradually being established, and when you look at the second administration's Jinyong side, what will stand out the most in a word?

[Kim Yeolsoo]
In my opinion, I can tell you about six simple things, but first of all, I'm a loyalist, so I'm a loyalist who listens well. The second is that only people who are serious about America First are now selecting people. The third is that people in their 40s and 50s are the mainstream, the fourth is that politicians are mostly selected, and the fifth is that if it's in the foreign and security line, the security adviser, the vice president, and the defense minister. Of course, the vice president is a running mate, but he's a veteran and a public hardliner. The last six is still quite a lot from Florida. So didn't Senator Rubio get the nomination to be secretary of state? Attorney General Matt Gates and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz are all from Florida. Perhaps when President Trump is at the Mar-a-Lago Hotel, his contact with them has had a big impact.

[Anchor]
In particular, in the case of Matt Gates, who was nominated as attorney general, who was from Florida, wouldn't neutrality be important? President-elect Trump has also experienced several judicial risks. I think there's also something I'm paying attention to about this.

[Kim Yeolsoo]
It's a hard right. That's why what this guy is talking about is anti-abortion, illegal immigrants should never be allowed in, gun ownership should be allowed, tax cuts should be supported, and it can be seen as Trump Man. And he was a strong opponent of Trump's judicial risks. That's why I think he was selected as the Minister of Justice, but as you just said, the neutrality of the Minister of Justice now is something that cannot be considered in the second Trump administration.

[Anchor]
I'll look at it in terms of security. Senator Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser, former Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth has been selected as Secretary of State, and this is also noticeable, right?

[Kim Yeolsoo]
In fact, in a way, the president appoints people who are well-versed in their work and puts them in key cabinet positions. But if you look at what Trump has appointed now, he's also a man who can be loyal to him, and Trump Jr., his son. As his son said, he said he would never appoint anyone who knew more than his father. I think that those things were thoroughly reflected here.

[Anchor]
In that sense, there were people who had the experience to break or neutralize the stubbornness of then-President Trump in the first term, but this time, it was said that they were driven toward Young Veteran.

[Kim Yeolsoo]
[Voiceover] Right. At the time, Chief of Staff John Kelly, Security Advisor McMaster, Secretary of Defense Mattis, these people were practically all very well-versed in their work and they were the so-called pillars of grown-ups. So during the first administration, President Trump shouldn't try to do anything. They are people who made a lot of noise. So it's not even a policy. I said a lot, and I said a lot that this was against the law, and there were problems that undermined the alliance.

As a result, I will never pick anyone who cuts these people and says that what Trump is thinking now is not at the time. So I'm saying I'll pick someone who listens soon, but this could be a risk to President-elect Trump in a way.

The reason is that the government of the United States is completely Republican, isn't it? Not only the administration, but also the legislature now controls both the House and Senate, especially the judiciary, with six conservative judges, followed by three liberals. The Supreme Court is also organized like this. Then, the so-called legislature, which should maintain checks and balances on what the president wants to do, and the Supreme Court, which should finally conduct a legal evaluation, are all Republican, so there is no brake in a way.

And because these selected people are made up of loyalists, they're more likely to step on the accelerator than to brake. In that sense, this may help maintain the momentum of Trump's policies in a way, but there is also a risk that if you go wrong, you can fail greatly. I see it like this.

[Anchor]
But in particular, the secretary of state and national security adviser candidates are typical hardliners against North Korea, and in the case of Gabbard, a former congressman nominated for director of national intelligence, let's negotiate with North Korea, isn't it? Looking at the aides like this, it seems that the two are exchanging hard-line and dialogue with North Korea, what do you think?

[Kim Yeolsoo]
It's a mixture of the two right now. So, if necessary, I think it's made up of hard-liners from China, but as you said, there are hard-liners against North Korea on the issue of North Korea, and on the other hand, dialogue with North Korea is necessary. The person who was selected as the defense minister was a Fox News anchor in the past. What this person also constantly talked about was someone who supported Trump's negotiations with North Korea or something like this. So in this respect, I think that there needs to be a little more policy toward North Korea to be revealed in detail.

[Anchor]
You mentioned a Fox News anchor, especially when you're a major and you have such a lack of experience in the military, can you go to the secretary of defense?

[Kim Yeolsoo]
It's not impossible. It's because the president himself picks it. As you said, this is a 44-year-old in terms and conditions and a former National Guard member, but this is a man who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. So I have experience in participating in the war, but I don't have experience in policy. That's why I've never worked in the U.S. Department of Defense or the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Nevertheless, I chose this person, and I think he is truly the most sincere person about the so-called America First policy, and the other is the one who insisted on reducing the number of U.S. troops stationed abroad. So if this person is appointed as the Minister of National Defense and works, this will affect Korea's security, and I think these are things we should pay attention to because he is a person who is likely to demand an increase in the reduction of U.S. troops in Korea or the mutual defense cost sharing between South Korea and the U.S.

And there's also the U.S. domestic military issue. Domestic military issues were also allowed in the military during the Biden administration on so-called political correctness, in fact, LGBTQ people and equality issues. I'm going to sweep this up. But this is the person who can do this. That's why I think we appointed this 44-year-old person in these terms and conditions.

[Anchor]
But as you said earlier, most of them are hard-liners against North Korea, and don't you have a staff? How does North Korea look at this?

[Kim Yeolsoo]
From North Korea's point of view, it's waiting now. I'm waiting, but I still don't say anything about Kim Jong-un's position or North Korea's Korean Central News Agency that President Trump was elected. From what I see, I look at it like this. It ended on November 5th, and it's already been a few days, but even a week, I'm still here.

Then, aren't we waiting carefully for what Trump has to say about North Korea policy and what the security adviser, defense secretary, or secretary of state, who can manage it, has to say? So I think there's a possibility that they'll react to what these people say.

{왜}Why are you so careful is something to think about. Kim Jong-un probably has two complicated thoughts. One is that he met with Trump three times, but the other is that he suffered a fatal damage to his leadership in Hanoi's no-deal. That's why you're waiting on purpose because of this problem. So I think we've done a number of steps in North Korea to get Trump to be president.

For example, the centrifuge was released, the 12-axis 24-wheeler was released, and even the Hwasong-19 type was shot, contributing to Trump's election. Nevertheless, I think it's a situation where we continue to wait for some contact from Trump's transition team to prevent the ransom from falling.

[Anchor]
There are already talks about who is behind the scenes over the appointment of Trump's second term, especially Elon Musk. Isn't that close enough for Trump's granddaughter to call him uncle? What do you think?

[Kim Yeolsoo]
About three people are being discussed right now. As you said, there's Elon Musk and someone named Tucker Carlson, who was the star anchor of Fox News. And now Trump's first son. Junior Trump. These three are the key, and as you just said, Elon Musk will occupy a very important position and what kind of big role he will play. Among them, he will be the head of the Government Efficiency Committee.

The Government Efficiency Committee is actually what Elon Musk raised to Trump in August. The federal government's efficiency is now too low and there are too many regulations. You have to break this down. So, it makes sense to hear this from Trump's point of view. That's why he's appointed this guy, and that's why Elon Musk jumped into the campaign and made political donations and actually served as a cheerleader. From Trump's point of view, Elon Musk is a very important person.

And what this guy is talking about so far is about 428 federal agencies, but I can reduce this to 99. That means you're going to cut it by a quarter. So the federal budget is $6.72 trillion, and I can cut it by $2.5 trillion, and I can cut it completely by a little more than 2.5 million federal employees. So, in fact, from the perspective of President-elect Trump, it's a very good thing to say that he wants to go toward a small government.

That's why President-elect Trump said this. I said this is similar to the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was a secret project to develop nuclear weapons. So this is what has put the United States in the ranks of the world's hegemonic power, and so by July 4, 2027, this is the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. I'm saying I'll finish this before then.

That's why I think Elon Musk will play a very big role, but we have to think about how long this bromance will last. The reason is that Trump doesn't think much about electric cars.

But Elon Musk is the head of Tesla. One problem, and the second problem is that Trump is pouring out a tremendously tough policy on China and speaking hard, and Elon Musk is hoping to get along well with China because there is a Tesla factory in China. Depending on how much the things about this are not in harmony, the bromance can be long-lasting or easily broken.

[Anchor]
In that regard, it would be a future story when Musk took over the head of the government's efficiency department, but if Trump said he would give the key to the place while doing it efficiently, shouldn't Musk leave Tesla?

[Kim Yeolsoo]
No, so if you go into the government's cabinet, for example, you have to do something similar to a blank trust. Something like a cabinet minister. Because there's a conflict of interest. But this is a government efficiency committee because it is a concept of a committee outside the government, so I don't have to do any of those things. So when I was asked to come in as a minister, I would be in the efficiency committee. So you're in the Efficiency Committee and you don't take care of any of your own interests? I think we're going to talk about the government, but we're actually going to break down the regulations on Tesla's autonomous driving. He's a person who's probably going to break down all the regulations related to SpaceX, and he's going to be here and help the government, but he's also going to break down regulations tremendously on his business.

[Anchor]
In the meantime, President Yoon Suk Yeol left the country today to attend the multilateral conference, and the Korea-U.S.-Japan summit is expected to take place on the occasion of the APEC summit. What will be said here and the biggest concern is whether he will meet with President-elect Trump. What are the achievements?

[Kim Yeolsoo]
The Korea-U.S.-Japan summit will be held regularly, and we confirmed each other at the Camp David meeting. But in fact, the time to meet is tight. That's why we agreed to meet here together because the APEC summit will be held in Lima, Peru. So if we meet like this, Biden is a person who leaves, and a new prime minister has appeared in Japan, so I think there will be discussions on how to further cooperate with South Korea, the U.S. and Japan in the future.

Then the president has a G20 meeting in Brazil next week. We will have that G20 meeting, but now, as you said, will President Yoon Suk Yeol meet with President-elect Trump or not? Isn't this the important thing? So, one day after Trump announced his victory, we talked to each other on the phone, and the decisive thing is to meet and set a place and time, and since we discussed with each other like this, maybe our presidential office is making a lot of effort accordingly.

In fact, how many leaders in the world would try to meet with President-elect Trump right now. I'm probably in line, but the key is whether I can make time for it and get time. If that happens, I think it will be of great help to our national interest later if we go to Trump Tower or the Mar-a-Lago Hotel in Florida and meet for a while.

[Anchor]
One of our biggest security issues right now is the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia, and should I say it's the South Korean government's atmosphere looking at the dispatch of troops, and those are likely to change after Trump's election. Is there any change?

[Kim Yeolsoo]
In my view, when I first talked about this issue, the government's stance was that it would respond step by step depending on the situation.

[Anchor]
We will provide weapons assistance and such in stages.

[Kim Yeolsoo]
That's right. I'll do that with the international community and consider whether to support it or not. In short, it's not the concept that we're ahead of all countries, we're ahead of the United States or NATO, and we're actively responding to it, but rather a little passive and a little passive. That's why this stance hasn't changed.

In that sense, the stance has not changed because we're going to keep an eye on what the Trump administration in the United States is going to do, what NATO is going to do, what European countries are going to do here, consult with them, and respond again. I still think this stance is right.

[Anchor]
Then, do you think the stance is similar to how Trump looks at the issue of sending North Korean troops to Russia?

[Kim Yeolsoo]
What Trump's idea itself is important. Trump's idea is an exchange of territory and peace. It is to give Russia the land it is securing and to secure peace instead, but the area that is actually facing Russia is about 1,200 kilometers. If you look at that 1,200km, you're saying you're going to create a demilitarized zone like the two Koreas.

And Trump's plan is to postpone Ukraine's accession to NATO a little, but would President Zelensky of Ukraine actually accept that? Everything is against you. That's why I think Ukraine is at war in Kursk right now with the life and death of the country.

So, as we think, before we take office on January 20, there will be a declaration of the end of the war by Ukraine and the negotiations will end, I absolutely don't think so. The reason is that it took us two years and a month to start a ceasefire during the Korean War and to sign an agreement. That's why Trump will continue to make strong remarks, but this means that our country will respond closely to what kind of support the U.S. will provide for Ukraine and whether NATO and other European countries will do it or not.

[Anchor]
I see. Let's stop here. So far, I have been with Kim Yeol-soo, head of the Security Strategy Division at the Korea Military Research Institute. Thank you.