Kim, Trump, Moon: Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Oddly, it makes sense

Koreans are sceptical – it’s been nearly 20 years since a Korean president last received the prize, and there is still hostility. Even so, this time there’s reason to believe that, in a strange way, it could contribute to a real lasting peace

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A portrait of Swedish inventor and scholar Alfred Nobel on display at the Nobel Forum in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:00pm, 4 Oct 2018Updated: 12:07pm, 4 Oct 2018

With the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize to be decided on Friday, many pundits are beginning to think the once unthinkable.

Could US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un really be about to become laureates – possibly as part of a three-way ticket with South Korean President Moon Jae-in?

An idea that was lampooned when first mooted by Trump has become all too credible. Bookmakers have slashed the odds on Trump winning, either alone or jointly, for his historic summit with Kim in Singapore. Even Moon himself has said Trump should win the prize.

Yet South Koreans seem unmoved by all the hype, their enthusiasm perhaps dampened by past disappointments and doubts over whether a prize can deliver real peace. After all, a Korean president received the peace prize in 2000, but peace never came. In fact, the North grew more heavily armed than ever.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump at their historic summit in Singapore. Photo: AP

“People criticise the entire Nobel Peace Prize itself,” said Ryu Yongwook, professor of international politics at Yonsei University in Seoul. “They say the former President Kim Dae-jung received the prize [in 2000] for helping North Korea develop nuclear weapons [with the aid money and economic support offered during his “Sunshine Policy” era].”