“Will it be U.S. President Donald Trump, by any chance?”
With the announcement of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner two days ahead, eyes are on whether key figures involved in the efforts to denuclearize North Korea would win the award. A British online betting company Ladbrokes said South Korean President Moon Jae-in, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump are favorites to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
U.S. magazine Fortune said a total of 331 nominations, of which 216 are individuals and 115 are organizations, are made this year and this is the second highest on record following 376 of the year 2016.
But the list of nominees has not been revealed. It is still unknown whether President Trump, who was greeted with chants of “Nobel! Nobel!” for Korea talks at Michigan Rally on April 28, is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize or not. It was rumored that Trump was nominated in February, when the nomination process for the 2018 award ended, but it turned out to be false. In May, House Republicans nominated Trump for Nobel Peace Prize for 2019.
Henrik Urdal, director of Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), a Nobel Peace Prize think tank, posted a shortlist for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on its website. President Moon, North Korean leader Kim, and President Trump are not on the list. The favorites to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize included World Food Program (WFP), Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, who have been leading the movement to bring attention to sexual violence in troubled regions, Tarana Burke, a civil rights activist who founded the Me Too movement, and Doctors Without Borders.
Taek Kyoon Sohn sohn@donga.com