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Engaging Pyongyang

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June 24, 2017

Why in news?

The tragic death of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American student is a huge setback to hopes for dialling down tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

What is the issue?

  • The Korean crisis has worsened since President Donald Trump took office early this year.
  • North Korea test-fired a number of missiles in defiance of international pressure, while the United States issued repeated warnings.
  • Mr. Trump had put pressure on Beijing to rein Pyongyang in, and even praised it for its efforts.
  • But the pressure does not seem to be working, with North Korea continuing with its nuclear missile programme.
  • Warmbier was arrested in Pyongyang in January 2016 while visiting as part of a tour group and later sentenced to 15 years of hard labour for the “hostile act” of trying to steal a propaganda poster.
  • Within a few days of his release he died.

What is USA response on the issue?

  • The Trump administration has accused the North Korean regime for Warmbier’s death, but stopped short of calling for more sanctions or issuing new threats.
  • This may be because three other Americans are still imprisoned in North Korea, and Washington’s priority for now is to secure their release.
  • It is worthwhile for Washington to ask whether its hostile policy towards North Korea has produced any positive result.
  • The sanctions-only approach has not helped change Pyongyang’s behaviour.
  • In fact, the longstanding hostility and Washington’s repeated threats have turned the Kim dynastic regime so paranoid that it doesn’t spare even American tourists visiting North Korea.
  • Attempts to put pressure on Pyongyang through Beijing have also failed — either because China is not completely on board or it is simply reluctant to use its leverage over North Korea.
  • Using force or attempting a regime change, a strategy that has not worked for the U.S. elsewhere, will be far more dangerous in the Korean Peninsula given that the North is an unpredictable nuclear power.
  • This situation leaves Mr. Trump with only one viable option: to take the lead in a new diplomatic offensive with both carrots and sticks.
  • Officials from Washington and Pyongyang had already established low-level contact for the release of Warmbier and the other three Americans who are still in North Korean custody.
  • Mr. Trump could use the crisis as an opportunity to expand the engagement, get the Americans freed and then gradually start discussing more complex issues.

Source: The Hindu

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