(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Shin Jae-woo = Although U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have somewhat let go of his obsession with winning this year's Nobel Peace Prize, there is still an atmosphere of fear of his wrath in Norway, where the prize is awarded.
Some are even suggesting that the Peace Prize be suspended for three years until President Trump leaves office in order to avoid offending him.
According to the Washington Post (WP), an American daily, on the 8th (local time), ahead of the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize winner on the evening of the 9th (Korean time), many voices are raising concerns in Norway about the fallout from President Trump's failure to receive the award.
Just last year, President Trump explicitly expressed his intention to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, saying that he had ended several wars. He even called Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg directly to ask for his award.
However, this year, due to the war with Iran and conflict with Europe and international organizations, the possibility of winning the award has become even lower, and President Trump has also significantly reduced his mention of the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Trump seems to have been left out of the discussion,” said Henrik Suisse, a research professor at the Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO) who served as vice-chairman of the six-member committee that decided the Nobel Peace Prize winner until 2020.
However, Norwegian figures are concerned that President Trump may show dissatisfaction even after this year's winner is announced, as he is accepting the failure to receive the Nobel Peace Prize as an injustice to himself.
In January of this year, at the time of conflict with Europe over Greenland, President Trump sent a text message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Stere, saying, "Since your country has decided not to award me the Nobel Peace Prize for ending more than eight wars, I no longer feel obligated to think only about peace."
A few weeks later, President Trump launched a war against Iran.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize winners, is an independent organization from the government, but since members are appointed by Congress, President Trump can direct his dissatisfaction with the award results to the Norwegian government.
Meanwhile, Shetil Tronboll, Vice President for Research at New University College Oslo, suggested to WP, "It may be better to stop awarding the Peace Prize for three years until he leaves office so as not to provoke him unnecessarily."
He criticized the Peace Prize Committee for not sufficiently considering the international political ramifications of deciding on the winner and for lacking risk analysis and prior verification.
President Trump seems to have reduced his desire to win awards, but has not completely given up on his claim that he should receive the award.
He said at the White House the day before, "Probably no president has ever ended a war," and claimed, "I have resolved eight wars, and those were big wars."
He then mentioned the fact that Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize last year, presented him with the Nobel Peace Prize medal, and emphasized that Machado had said, "No one deserves this award more than President Trump."
The ‘Nobel Prize promotion’ directed at Trump continues.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said last month that if the United States and China agree to reduce the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) development, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could jointly receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
FIFA, the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) led by President Gianni Infantino, who has close ties to Trump, created a new peace award last year and selected President Trump as the first recipient, sparking controversy.
Candidates for this year's Nobel Peace Prize include the charity Save the Children, Mykola Kuleva, founder of Save Ukraine, a relief organization that helps the return of Ukrainian children who were forcibly transported to Russia, and the Emergency Response Room (ERR), a volunteer relief network in Sudan, which is suffering from civil war and starvation.
In addition, Pope Leo
It is observed that among the candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize are Korean citizens who overcame the December 3 martial law crisis under the Yoon Seok-yeol regime.
Previously, Kim Eui-young, a professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Seoul National University, announced in February that some political scientists, including former and current presidents of the International Association of Political Sciences (IPA), recommended the Korean Citizen Collective as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize to the Norwegian Nobel Committee in January.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which organizes the Nobel Peace Prize, announced in April that 287 candidates were recommended for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, of which 208 were individuals and the remaining 79 were organizations. According to the Nobel Foundation's Articles of Incorporation, all related materials, including the list of Nobel Prize candidates, recommenders, and letters of recommendation, are kept confidential for 50 years.
This year's Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on the 9th at 6pm Korean time, and the awards ceremony will be held in Oslo, Norway, on December 10th.
