Boehner warns Trump: Don’t pull out of Korea-US trade deal

Former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is urging President Trump not to pull out of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement amid escalating tensions with North Korea.

“I support and applaud the tough stance President Trump has taken with respect to the rogue regime in North Korea,” Boehner said in a statement Monday about the trade deal he helped pass in 2011. 

“For our strategic endeavors to succeed, however, the United States must strengthen – not weaken – its already vital economic relationships in the Pacific, from South Korea and Japan to Australia and China,” Boehner continued.

“Withdrawing from the Korea-US Trade Agreement [(KORUS)] would undermine America’s strategic objectives in the Pacific region and undercut our own workers and employers, who continue to depend on the free flow of goods and services between the US and the Republic of Korea.”

{mosads}Boehner’s statement falls on the heels of a unanimous United Nations Security Council vote on Monday to increase sanctions against Pyongyang after the state launched its latest nuclear weapons test earlier this month.

Trump told reporters that he planned to discuss the fate of KORUS with his advisers sometime last week, according to reports.

“It’s very much on my mind,” Trump said about the trade deal.

Congress ratified KORUS in 2011, after renegotiating the initial agreement made in 2006.

During the presidential campaign, Trump slammed the deal, saying it “doubled our trade deficit with South Korea and destroyed nearly 100,000 American jobs.”