And during a news conference here on Saturday, he didn’t sound particularly eager to shake hands with the North Korean despot.
“It will depend on whether he is sincere and serious,” Biden said when asked if he would like to meet with Kim.
The days of glittering summits between leaders and other photo operations that set off President Donald Trump’s diplomatic raids on North Korea and raised Kim seem to be over. Such are the attempts at a big deal, a “everything for everything” denuclearization agreement.
Instead, Biden administration officials are focused on what they call a “calibrated, practical approach,” seeking gradual progress toward denuclearization through ongoing diplomatic commitments. And Kim, once again isolated on the world stage and unable to catch up and smile with the US president, seems ready to step into a headline-grabbing intercontinental ballistic missile test while Biden is in the region instead.
A year after the Biden administration completed a review of its North Korean policy, Biden’s first trip to South Korea now puts him at the center of a still-unproven new strategy.
Even when a potential rocket launch while Biden is in the region could increase tensions, observers also say North Korea’s major coronavirus outbreak offers a potential, albeit close, diplomatic opening – if not with the United States, then at least with the South. Korea.
Testing Biden’s response
Jake Sullivan, the U.S. National Security Adviser, said the U.S. was “prepared” for the possibility of a North Korean missile or nuclear test while Biden was in the region, and that the president could subsequently adjust the U.S. military position in the region.
“If anything happens, it will only serve to reinforce and emphasize the fact that the United States will be engaged in the Indo-Pacific region, will be a loyal ally and will oppose, not deviate from, any acts of aggression.” Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One traveling to South Korea.
To date, the president’s strategy has not led to a working meeting with North Korea in the year since the administration completed a review of US policy toward the hermitage, a senior administration official said, adding that “this was not the case.” due to lack of experience. “North Korea has also accelerated the pace of its ballistic missile tests – firing 15 so far this year.
“Obviously we’re worried,” the test officer said. “But we remain committed to our basic approach, which is to do what we need to do for security for us, for our allies, for our deployed forces. At the same time, we will continue to impose (United Nations) Security Council resolutions and call on others and pressure others to do the same. But we will continue to reach out to the North and make it clear that we are seeking diplomacy with them. We are looking for a commitment. ”
“Unfortunately, so far – I think we have to be honest about this – they had no desire,” the senior official added.
Covid in North Korea may be an opportunity for commitment
U.S. officials and North Korean experts say the country has no diplomatic commitment to the United States and other countries, in part because of the draconian coronavirus-blocking measures the hermitage has had throughout Biden’s rule.
But news earlier this month of North Korea’s first major, publicly acknowledged coronavirus epidemic also raised some hope for a potential de-escalation.
Although U.S. officials do not believe the epidemic will hamper North Korea’s ability to conduct a missile test, they are also watching closely for signs that it may accept South Korean or international aid to fight the outbreak.
“It is hoped that they will be more willing to engage in humanitarian aid related to Covid, and that this could potentially serve as a means of unfreezing the diplomatic line, which has been frozen since the failed US-North Korea summit. in Hanoi, “said Patricia Kim, an associate of David M. Rubenstein at the Brookings Institution. “So, I think there’s hope.”
A senior administration official said the United States had previously told North Korea it was ready to participate in discussions on aid to alleviate the coronavirus, but had not had direct contact since the latest outbreak. Pyongyang has not yet responded to a new Seoul government proposal for coronavirus aid.
A big change from Trump’s showmanship diplomacy
Trump’s policy toward North Korea reflects the volatile nature of his presidency. Warned by then-President Barack Obama in the Oval Office in 2016 that Pyongyang would pose the most serious threat to national security, Trump took a belligerent approach to the North and its leader in the early days of his presidency.
From his summer home in New Jersey, Trump threatened to pour “fire and rage” on North Korea if its provocations continue. He boasted that his “nuclear button” was bigger than Kim’s. And during a speech at the United Nations, he called the dictator “Little Rocket Man,” an insult he invented to reduce his enemy to a caricature.
Yet over time – and according to Trump, when his rhetoric attracted Kim – politics has turned sharply in another direction. After a historic summit in Singapore, the first between a US and North Korean leader, the men exchanged what Trump later called “love letters.” They met again in Hanoi, although these talks fell apart due to differences in easing sanctions.
The last time Trump visited Seoul as president, he traveled to the Korean demilitarized zone to meet with Kim in person, crossing the demarcation line to North Korea.
Biden, for his part, will refuse to visit the DMZ altogether, with officials saying he has instead chosen a briefing at Osan Air Base after touring the DMZ as vice president.
Trump’s efforts seem to have paused North Korea’s provocations by reducing missile and nuclear tests. Yet, in essence, efforts to persuade Kim to halt her nuclear program have stalled and ultimately failed to advance the ultimate goal of denuclearization.
“I think the Biden administration has tried to differentiate its policy in North Korea by saying that it is not interested in blatant summits or big deals, but that it wants to take a practical and calibrated approach to building full denuclearization of North Korea. “Korea,” said Patricia Kim. “I don’t think the break is, of course, so much US policy, but the fact that North Korea doesn’t seem to have any interest in talking about denuclearization.
As Trump sought to cultivate Kim as a partner and personal friend, he expressed skepticism about the need to retain US troops on the Korean Peninsula and imposed harsh tariffs on South Korean goods, steps that have caused deep concern in Seoul and the wider region over US engagement. to security.
Biden has taken a far more traditional approach, welcoming news to the countries he visits this week.
“Obviously there is a sigh of relief after Biden came to the region and spoke of alliances in a language the Allies understood. They just didn’t understand, they didn’t understand what Trump was saying, “said Victor Cha, the Korean president. at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
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