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Washington is ready to corner Pyongyang

Posted September. 30, 2016 07:33,   

Updated September. 30, 2016 07:40

한국어

The U.S. has taken omnidirectional pressure to completely isolate North Korea. During the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel said that the U.S. instructed our embassies around the world to ask host governments to take further additional actions to downgrade or sever diplomatic and economic ties. Under President Barack Obama’s commitments, the U.S. recently announced sanctions against the Chinese Liaoning Hongxiang Group, which exported nuclear materials to North Korea. Following the recent move, another investigation on other Chinese companies is on the way. Finally, strategic patience has put aside as the U.S. has wielded its sword against China.

Despite his upcoming departure, the urgency of the matter may have urged President Obama to pull up his sleeve and deal with the North Korean nuclear issue, instead of handing over to his successor. Even Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass warned that in 2020, the director of CIA may urgently report the U.S. president that North Korea has succeeded in making a nuclear bomb. Against this backdrop, the North Korean nuclear issue has become an imminent crisis, which the next U.S. administration cannot just sit by until a new policy is set. Furthermore, rather than resisting to the “secondary boycott” made by the U.S. on Chinese companies, Beijing should face up to the reality. Beijing would be making a great mistake and welcoming more strategic loss when covering for Pyongyang, as it will only fortify solidarity and coordination among Korea, the U.S. and Japan.

The issue at hand is setting the final goal of sanctioning the North. Russel said that the U.S. is continuing to tighten sanctions against North Korea by targeting income source and reputation of the North Korean regime so that they can be brought back to the negotiation table for denuclearization. However, encouraging the North to return to the negotiation table cannot be the final goal. What matters is what we earn from the negotiations. While the Council on Foreign Relations suggested a negotiation on freezing nuclear with the North, we cannot accept the offer made by the council, as it will only mean returning to a situation similar to the Joint Statement made on Sept. 19, 2005 at the six-party talks.

To this end, we need to open strategic dialogues with the U.S. to define our final objectives of cornering North Korea on a global level supported by the international society. Now is the time to create a consensus on whether we even consider a regime change in North Korea. If the participation of China is necessary, now is the opportunity for us to urge Washington to stop Beijing from disabling sanctions against Pyongyang. Indeed, the U.S. is the only country on earth that can intimidate and nudge China.

The outcomes of pressuring China and North Korea are indeed difficult to predict. Therefore, close bilateral dialogues are crucial between Seoul and Washington to make sure that the two nations are on the same page amidst instability in the Korean Peninsula. Moreover, it is up to President Park Geun-hye to picture a roadmap, which should be led by South Korea, in this urgent time.



한기흥기자 eligius@donga.com