Kim Jong Un Wanted US Military In South Korea For Protection From Xi Jinping, Says Mike Pompeo

Kim Jong Un once told former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he needed the U.S. military in South Korea to protect himself from the dominance of China.

What Happened: In his new memoir titled "Never Give an Inch, Fighting for the America I Love," Pompeo said Kim told him that he was not bothered at all by the U.S. military presence in Seoul during a conversation on his first trip to Pyongyang in March 2018.

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Although, he noted that the dictator had raised the issue of U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises. 

“I insinuated that he was a little hypocritical to get worked up about them, given how his planes and rockets could, within minutes, or perhaps seconds, lay waste to the city of Seoul, South Korea, a city of ten million people and only a few dozen kilometers from the demilitarized zone (DMZ),” Pompeo wrote.

Pompeo said added he also told Kim that Xi Jinping's government has often reiterated that the U.S. forces leaving South Korea would make "Chairman Kim happy."

“At this, Kim laughed and pounded on the table in sheer joy, exclaiming that the Chinese were liars,” wrote Pompeo.

“He (Kim) said that he needed the Americans in South Korea to protect him from the C.C.P., and that the C.C.P. needs the Americans out so they can treat the peninsula like Tibet and Xinjiang,” Pompeo added.

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