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Trump changes his approach to Kim Jong Un

Posted January. 07, 2017 07:04,   

Updated January. 07, 2017 07:12

한국어

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had a message for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and he said, “North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon. It won’t happen.” His remark came after the North Korean leader delivered his New Year’s Day speech. With Trump’s comment, people are now paying attention to the North Korea policy of the Trump administration. Up until now, Trump’s messages for Kim Jong Un were somewhat confusing. Trump has said that Kim is “mad.” But he also said that if Kim Jong Un visits the U.S., he would be prepared to meet him over a hamburger on a conference table, and should make better deals, leaving open the possibility of engaging in a dialogue.

Trump has argued that he would use China to pressure North Korea during his presidential campaign and this approach has been considered as a framework for his policy toward the North. The celebrity businessman turned president-elect envisioned to persuade China by using the adverse balance of trade between the U.S. and China, the cross-strait relations, and other relating issues so that the country can play a practical role in stopping the North to develop its nuclear program. However, it seems that tensions are inevitable for a while as China is now strongly reacts to the pressure by Trump, beyond expectation. Thus, some argue that imposing a secondary boycott to Chinese companies that have traded with Pyongyang is not enough to move China in order to change the Kim Jong Un regime. Others stress the need of having more powerful tools to change China’s stance.

With regard to the human rights situation in North Korea, many predict that the Trump administration will stick to the same policy of the Obama administration. The U.S. imposed sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the first time for human rights abuses in July last year. According to a Washington source, the U.S. administration considered that the North Korean regime has been reacting sensitively to human rights issues unexpectedly. Scott Busby, deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor, said during a seminar held in December last year in Washington that the U.S. government would soon impose additional sanctions with regard to human rights abuses in North Korea so that those who are responsible for human rights violations would be held accountable, whether they be high-ranking officials or prison camp managers and guards. He also said that Washington's goal is to take advantage of cracks in the information blockade and help accelerate the bottom up trends already underway in Pyongyang that could lead to internal change.

Also, there is an argument to strengthen the missile defense (MD) system preemptively in order to send a strong message to the North. Bruce Bennett, senior defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, proposed the Trump administration to increase the capacity of MD, which is capable of intercepting the North’s missiles before launch, and to block the country from obtaining relevant data through hacking.



Seung-Heon Lee ddr@donga.com