Accepting a Nuclear North Korea

  On May 13, 2017, North Korea tested an intermediate range ballistic missile, from their test site of Kusong which flew over Japan and crashed into the sea. This missile, which traveled 1,300 kilometers, and was projected to be able to fly up to 3,000 kilometers, which could reach the U.S territory of Guam sparked more talks on how to deal with the Kim Regime in North Korea. While President Trump has been outspoken in his desire to see the Kim Regime dealt with, in a presumably violent manner, speaking of North Korea as “looking for trouble” as if the country was a teenage bully on the playground. However, this policy of openly being antagonistic to North Korea is merely playing the part assigned to him by Kim Jong Un, and following the story that Un feeds to his people of the “Evil America.” The United States best policy with North Korea is not to take the antagonistic roll but, rather one of strategic patience in which diplomacy is stressed and the United States looks to expose the volatility of the Kim Regime in hopes other countries realize the danger they pose and help intervene. 

   An aggressive, antagonistic policy is possibly the worst option for the United States as it only worsens the North Korean insecurity problem, which is the main proponent to the country continuing its nuclear program. The North Korean Nuclear program first came into existence not because they wanted them, but rather because they felt they truly needed them to survive as a sovereign nation. The Kim Regime that “creates a comic-book style mythology” claims that they are the sole reason that the United States has not invaded the Korean peninsula and conquered the Korean people. Even with further economic sanctions of North Korea by the United States this provides no deterrence because they look at examples such as Gaddafi in Libya who surrendered his nuclear program in 2004, and was subsequently killed my rebels years later as well as Ukraine which surrendered its program in 1994, but because of its lack of nuclear power Crimea was annexed by Russia and possibly the most prominent example being Saddam Hussein in Iraq who’s regime was eerily similar to the Kim’s was utterly destroyed by the U.S before he could develop a nuclear program. The United States’ antagonistic stance enforced by Trump will only speed up their nuclear development and play into the hands of North Korea.  

   The United States’ best policy towards North Korea is to except a nuclear Korea and attempt to stifle the program through diplomatic means. The United States has two options in this matter. The first being, accepting that North Korea is a nuclear power and attempting to work with them on a security goal, or using China and other countries to weaken them economically in order to force them to stop their program. The United States however, needs to treat North Korea not as a lesser state but, rather as an equal to keep the Kim Regime from having the insecurity issues that plague them, and encourage them to continue the nuclear program. Something akin to the six party talks should be implemented in which North Korea is actually given a say on what will become of their country. The other parties should make clear where they stand in the area as quite possibly the weakest country, with the least amount of trade power, and still a much weaker military in comparison to China, Russia, or the United States. However, the United States needs to be able to accept a nuclearized North Korea as this is the only thing that will keep the country secure in its sovereignty. The second option would include China, North Koreas biggest importer and exporter as the lynch pin to the plan. Over 2 billion dollars’ worth of goods is imported and exported between China and North Korea every year and, while China is adamant om keeping North Korea a sovereign nation, they could be persuaded to help stifle the nuclear program if the United States were to offer up equal trade benefits. The other top importer and exporters are India, a country which is much more likely to be pro U.S and, Russia who lately has been rather unpredictable. If these countries could come to an agreement with the U.S to halt, or even lessen trade with North Korea, this economic hit could be enough to convince North Korea to stop their nuclear program.

  In Conclusion, eradicating the North Korean nuclear program is an unrealistic goal for the United as that would be forcing North Korea to give up their own security. However, the United States could attempt to work with other nations and North Korea itself in order to stop their nuclear development and keep them from creating any more weapons. While a nuclearized North Korea is not a good thing for any country how can the United States be for denuclearization if they will not disarm themselves for the same reason that the North Koreans want nuclear weapons, because doing so would threaten their own security. 

Sources:
McLaughlin, Elizabeth, and Luis Martinez. “A Look at Every North Korean Missile Test This Year.” ABC News, ABC News Network, abcnews.go.com/International/north-korean-missile-test-year/story?id=46592733

Friedman, Uri. “Can America Live With a Nuclear North Korea?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 14 Sept. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/09/north-korea-nuclear-deterrence/539205/