US divides N. Korea denuclearization objection into short-term and long-term goals

Posted on : 2018-12-31 11:53 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Washington seems to be taking more pragmatic approach to negotiations with Pyongyang
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump during their Singapore summit on June 12. (AP)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump during their Singapore summit on June 12. (AP)

As the deadlock between North Korea and the US drags on, the US has set “final, fully verified denuclearization” as its long-term goal and freezing North Korean nuclear weapon development and halting the production of nuclear materials as a short-term goal. Considering that the US had been insisting that North Korea must dismantle its nuclear program before negotiations can begin, analysts believe that the US has adopted a much more practical strategy for negotiating with the North.

In a strategy report for the East Asia and Pacific region that was jointly released on Nov. 20 by the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the US State Department and by the Asia Bureau at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US explicitly divided the stages of North Korea’s denuclearization into short-term and long-term goals. The US’ long-term goal, the report said, is “final, fully verified denuclearization,” but in the short term, it needs to focus on North Korea freezing its nuclear development, halting nuclear and ballistic missile tests and the production of nuclear materials, and taking the initial steps toward denuclearization.

This report elaborates on the strategies for the East Asia and Pacific region that appear in the National Security Strategy released by the Trump administration at the end of last year, the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the joint strategy report for 2018 to 2022 that was developed by the US State Department and USAID. A diplomatic source described the report as “an implementation plan.”

It is striking for an official document produced by the Trump administration to divide North Korean denuclearization policy into short-term and long-term goals.

“The US’ strategy for the denuclearization negotiations appears to have shifted to destroying some nuclear weapons between April and August, submitting a list of nuclear facilities and weapons between August and November, and then freezing nuclear development after that,” said Cho Sung-ryul, senior research fellow for the Institute for National Security Strategy.

“Until the summit in Singapore on June 12, the Trump administration focused on making denuclearization happen quickly. Since then, it has prepared for this issue becoming prolonged [by setting short-term goals]. It’s significant that a practical negotiation strategy has appeared in an official American document,” said Shin Beom-cheol, director of the Security Unification Center at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Some even think that the US was offering a glimpse at its negotiating strategy. “The fact that the US listed halting the production of nuclear material as a short-term goal in the report implies that it’s trying to move toward step-by-step negotiations,” said Koo Kab-woo, professor at the University of North Korean Studies.

In contrast, a diplomatic source who is familiar with North Korea-US relations said it was more significant that the US State Department had openly published its plan in written format. “If the US was trying to send a message to North Korea, it would have used a different format,” the source said.

At the same time, the report also emphasized that the US government’s goal is increasing political and economic pressure on North Korea to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs. That’s consistent with the North Korean policy maintained by the Trump administration thus far.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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