{"id":38834,"date":"2018-04-26T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-04-25T20:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=38834"},"modified":"2018-05-23T10:25:03","modified_gmt":"2018-05-23T00:25:03","slug":"negotiate-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/negotiate-north-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"How to negotiate with North Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

North Korean leader Kim Jong\u2011un seems to be setting the stage for an historic deal with US President Donald Trump that would allow his country, like Myanmar and Vietnam, to reduce its dependence on China and move closer to the West. But, despite declaring a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests and dropping the demand that American troops withdraw from South Korea, Kim is unlikely to abandon North Korea\u2019s hard-won nuclear-weapons program until a credible and comprehensive agreement is reached.<\/p>\n

North Korea has conducted a total of six nuclear tests\u2014the same number as India, whose formidable nuclear-weapons capability is beyond dispute. Kim\u2019s emulation of India\u2019s 1998\u00a0declaration of a test moratorium\u2014which enabled talks with the United States and led eventually to a US law<\/a> recognising India\u2019s nuclear arsenal\u2014implies that he seeks international acceptance of his country\u2019s nuclear status.<\/p>\n

Of course, the US\u2013Indian nuclear deal was made possible by post\u2013Cold War strategic pressures, which are lacking in the context of the Korean peninsula. Nonetheless, if Trump\u2019s summit with Kim is to have a lasting impact, it is essential to move beyond simply trying to force North Korea to denuclearise and pursue a broader strategic deal aimed at opening the North to the world.<\/p>\n

Historically, ending longstanding conflicts\u2014for example, taming the Khmer Rouge, which had been responsible for the Cambodian genocide in the 1970s\u2014has depended on comprehensive strategies that have not put disarmament first. There is no reason to believe that the situation will be any different with North Korea. After all, that country\u2019s only leverage is its nuclear arsenal\u2014and Kim knows it. The mere fact that he finally agreed to hold summits with South Korea and the US stems from his confidence in his country\u2019s nuclear deterrent, however limited it may be.<\/p>\n

Kim has already enshrined<\/a> North Korea\u2019s nuclear-weapons status in the country\u2019s constitution and erected monuments<\/a> to the long-range missiles launched last year. His moratorium on testing fits this narrative, as Kim presents himself as the leader of a nuclear-armed state embarking on potentially epoch-making diplomatic initiatives.<\/p>\n

In this context, it is important to note that, while Kim\u2019s peace overtures are motivated by a desire to rebuild North Korea\u2019s sanctions-battered economy, sanctions alone did not change the behaviour of a country long used to enduring extreme hardship. On the contrary, escalating sanctions helped to fuel North Korea\u2019s nuclear and missile advances. Securing any kind of denuclearisation, therefore, will demand a more effective economic opening.<\/p>\n

America\u2019s handling of the 2015\u00a0Iran nuclear agreement makes it even less likely that North Korea will agree to a narrow denuclearisation accord. Even after signing the deal, President Barack Obama kept in place some strict economic sanctions, affecting, in particular, Iran\u2019s financial sector. Making matters worse, Trump seems keen to follow through on his threat to withdraw from the Iran deal\u2014or at least to add new sanctions\u2014despite a lack of evidence that Iran has not fulfilled its obligations.<\/p>\n

And yet, when it comes to North Korea, the Trump administration remains focused solely on denuclearisation. To be sure, where nuclear proliferation issues are concerned, the US has a history of staking out a maximalist position publicly, but being more pragmatic in closed-door negotiations. For example, it tolerates the world\u2019s fastest-growing nuclear arsenal<\/a> in Pakistan, even though that country, in Trump\u2019s words<\/a>, has \u2018given us nothing but lies and deceit\u2019, including providing a \u2018safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan\u2019.<\/p>\n

But Kim\u2019s latest declaration that he has accomplished the nuclear-deterrent objective of his \u2018byungjin policy<\/a>\u2019\u2014the other objective being economic modernisation\u2014is not an empty boast. The North Korea challenge is no longer one of nuclear nonproliferation. Past agreements with the country, like that reached in\u00a02005<\/a>, are no longer relevant.<\/p>\n

Of course, the risks posed by North Korea\u2019s arsenal must be addressed. But rather than emphasise \u2018denuclearisation\u2019\u2014which implies a one-sided compromise\u2014negotiators should seek to secure a nuclear-weapons\u2013free zone (NWFZ) on the Korean peninsula. This is also essential for realising South Korean President Moon Jae-in<\/a>\u2019s vision of closer economic cooperation that harnesses the North\u2019s natural resources and the South\u2019s advanced technologies.<\/p>\n

The NWFZ approach would entail concessions by all parties. Yes, North Korea would have to denuclearise. But all nuclear powers would have to forswear so much as threatening to use nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula. In addition, foreign warships carrying nuclear arms could no longer make port calls there.<\/p>\n

For an NWFZ to be possible, however, South Korea would have to agree to be outside the US nuclear umbrella\u2014not a particularly popular notion in the country. According to one opinion poll<\/a>, most South Koreans want to go in the opposite direction, with the US redeploying the tactical nuclear weapons it withdrew more than a quarter-century ago.<\/p>\n

The problem with this approach is clear: if the South will not give up its effective nuclear deterrent, Kim will ask why the North should abandon its own. As Kim has pointed out, both Iraq\u2019s Saddam Hussein and Libya\u2019s Muammar el-Qaddafi met with gruesome ends after renouncing nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

Only a US-supported NWFZ can meet the denuclearisation conditions to which Kim\u2019s regime has alluded, including the removal of nuclear threats and a \u2018commitment not to introduce the means to carry out a nuclear strike\u2019. Elements of a NWFZ can realistically be negotiated alongside the provisions of a credible and comprehensive peace deal, though the negotiations will undoubtedly be difficult.<\/p>\n

If the US needs added motivation to pursue this approach, it should consider this: it is China that faces the biggest challenge from North Korea\u2019s nuclear weapons, as it works to supplant the US as Asia\u2019s dominant power. The only way to mitigate the North Korean nuclear threat, without giving China the upper hand, is to show true diplomatic leadership in securing a comprehensive peace accord on the Korean peninsula.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Korean leader Kim Jong\u2011un seems to be setting the stage for an historic deal with US President Donald Trump that would allow his country, like Myanmar and Vietnam, to reduce its dependence on China …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":482,"featured_media":38835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[86,31],"class_list":["post-38834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-north-korea","tag-united-states","dinkus-trump-kim-summit"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to negotiate with North Korea | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/negotiate-north-korea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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