Kim Jong-un views US military presence as ‘bulwark’ against China threat: Pompeo: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un views US forces stationed in South Korea as a counterweight and “bulwark” against China’s “real threat” to his sovereignty, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday. Pompeo said, “As we developed our relationship more fully, what became very clear is he (Kim Jong-un) views the United States of America on the Korean Peninsula as a bulwark against his real threat, which came from Xi Jinping,” Pompeo said. “He knew that having American troops … (was) the counterbalance not only for the South Koreans, not only for the Japanese, not only for the United States and our Western interests, but for him as well.” North Korea’s pronouncements have, on the other hand, shown different opinions on the matter.
