Sandip Kumar Mishra is an associate professor at the Centre for East Asian Studies.
Biden's improvident policy toward North Korea
By Sandip Kumar Mishra
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is in the final months of his office, conveyed Jan. 10 that a summit between the U.S. President Joe Biden and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is needed to find a solution to the nuclear standoff.
Moon said that if both leaders meet once again, they could reach “substantial progress in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the implementation of a peace process and the normalization of U.S.-North Korea relations.”
However, there has apparently been insufficient urgency in the Biden administration to bring denuclearization talks with North Korea back on track.
Meanwhile, on Jan. 30, North Korea tested an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM). It was seventh missile test by the North last month alone and more importantly the second IRBM test after November 2017.
Undoubtedly, the North Korean nuclear and missile issues continue to loom large and the Biden administration does not appear to be taking sufficient cognizance of the developments.
It could also be said that the Biden administration has not been able to articulate a detailed North Korea policy in which multiple preferential routes and possible give and take are being conceptualized even after being in power for more than a year.
The Biden administration, after coming to power in January 2021, began a review of U.S. policy on North Korea and was soon expected to come out with measures to break the stalemate in denuclearization talks with the North.
The process took several months and the policy was gradually revealed through intermittent press notes and statements from the U.S. But it is quite obvious that the U.S. has neither a sense of urgency nor a detailed proactive policy toward North Korea.
Actually, judging by fact that the position of the U.S. ambassador to South Korea has been vacant for a year, it seems that the Biden administration does not have much interest in the Korean Peninsula.
A lack of interest and direction as well as a detailed plan on the part of the U.S. have not only given North Korea space to advance its missile capabilities through various tests but also neutralized South Korea's consistent attempts to engage the North.
Most of the proactive, constructive, out-of-the-box, politically risky and long-term attempts of President Moon appear to be more out of place in the context of U.S. apathy than it was during the Trump administration.
South Korea had more clarity about Trump's approach toward North Korea and so it was able to intervene in the process with tactful maneuvering.
Even though the conservative administration of the U.S. had a contrary approach to the progressive administration of South Korea, the messaging was clearer and the South appreciated the proactive attention and efforts of the Trump administration. In the past one year of the Biden administration, despite common ideological orientation, South Korea appears to be clueless.
The U.S. policy toward North Korea appears to be improvident, though the Biden administration claims that it has articulated a “calibrated and practical” policy on North Korea. Furthermore, even though the U.S. denies it, for all practical purposes, the current North Korea policy of the Biden administration is identical to Obama's policy of strategic patience.
The Biden administration's policy appears to be based on the assumption that continued North Korean tests are meant to gain leverage in talks and if the U.S. keeps its wait-and-see approach, the North would ultimately come to the negotiating table. It does not sufficiently realize that these missiles tests might be more for the advancement of the missile technology of North Korea.
Repeating cliches such as the U.S. prefers “engagement with North Korea” or has “no hostile intent towards North Korea” or that the U.S. is ready to meet North Korean leader “anytime, anywhere without preconditions” have become meaningless.
Actually, the U.S. appears to have laid out a certain approach toward North Korea and expects the North will ultimately realize the sincerity of America's approach and come to the negotiating table.
The problem is that North Korea is not ready to do so. Now, the U.S. does not know how to move forward. It would be naive on the part of the Biden administration to wait until North Korea positively responds to the U.S. approach and in the process, allows North Korea to move forward in its missile and nuclear technologies.
From formal channels to informal contacts, there must be intensive trials and errors to reach out North Korea. There must be multiple and constant bargains with North Korea with the expectation that the North will choose one of them.
In the process, piecemeal steps such as offering to hold talks, having or not having joint military exercises with South Korea, or implementing sanctions on North Korea's weapons program which the U.S. did on Jan. 12, are not going to bring the desired results.
The Moon administration's appeal is quite pertinent because an improvident approach would only help North Korea. It has happened in the past and it will happen again in the future.
The author (sandipmishra10@gmail.com) is associate professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. The views expressed in the above article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.