Instead of trying to preempt the North Korean nuclear weapons program, the Trump administration would be better advised to ramp up sanctions.
Not even the fate of American student Otto Warmbier, who died this week after returning to the United States following his detainment in North Korea, will dissuade advocates of « engagement » with Pyongyang. They argue that, however repugnant the regime, diplomacy is the only way to stop North Korea’s rapidly advancing nuclear and missile programs. But our recent experience suggests that trying to talk to supreme leader Kim Jong Un is a waste of time.
This month, we were part of a group of delegates from the United States, Japan, China and South Korea who met in Sweden with representatives of North Korea to explore possible grounds for resuming the six-party talks that collapsed in 2009. After many hours with the North Korean delegation at these « 1.5 track » talks, we left more pessimistic than when we arrived.
North Korean officials made unambiguously clear that Pyongyang will not be deterred from augmenting its nuclear arsenal or test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile that could eventually threaten the U. S. homeland. There were no signals of flexibility or willingness to negotiate on these programs.
Throughout, the North Korean message was that denuclearization is off the table. Pyongyang’s representatives declared: « The most perfect weapons system will never become the exclusive property of the United States. »
We tried repeatedly to ascertain whether any combination of economic and diplomatic benefits or security reassurances could induce Pyongyang to comply with its previously negotiated commitments and with U. N. resolutions. The answer was an emphatic, unwavering no. Citing the fates of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Libya’s Moammar Gaddafi, the North Koreans repeatedly said that their nuclear program is the ultimate life preserver for the regime.
Our North Korean interlocutors presented a stark choice: « First accept us as a nuclear state, then we are prepared to talk about a peace treaty or fight. We are ready for either.
