N. Korea de-escalation eyed as Trump victory
But military drills ‘delicate’
North Korea’s backing down from its inflammatory threat to attack Guam could represent a foreign policy victory for the Trump administration, despite the president’s own erratic rhetoric.
But planned joint military exercises next week between South Korea and the U.S. could shatter the fragile de-escalation, an expert said.
“It’s an annual ritual,” Jim Walsh, a senior research associate at MIT’s Security Studies Program who has previously traveled to North Korea for nuclear talks, said of joint maneuvers. He added that North Korea is “always provocative when we start, so it’s a delicate moment.”
The United States and South Korea are set to start the annual military drills on Aug. 21, which North Korea typically objects to as rehearsals to invade their country.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un had called for military plans to launch missiles toward the U.S. territory of Guam in the West Pacific. But as photos emerged of the rogue leader with military officials at a desk showing plans with a straight line between North Korea and Guam, Kim said he would watch “the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees” a little more before deciding whether to launch missiles. Korea watchers see that as a walking back of the threat.
The North’s shift came after weeks of pressure by the U.S. on China to influence the rogue state, which relies heavily on Chinese assistance, while U.S. military leaders calmly asserted their ability to destroy North Korean forces even as President Trump issued his notorious “fire and fury” and other incendiary tweets. The North also was hit with another $1 billion in U.N.authorized sanctions.
But the U.S. and South Korea have no plans to abandon their joint military drills, and insist the path to diplomacy starts with Kim.
“We continue to be interested in trying to find a way to get to dialogue, but that’s up to him,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters in Washington yesterday.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged North Korea to commit to talks over its nuclear weapons program and insisted Seoul and Washington agree that the nuclear standoff should “absolutely be solved peacefully.”
“Our government will put everything on the line to prevent another war on the Korean Peninsula,” Moon said. “The (South Korean) government and the U.S. government don’t have a different position on this.”
Given where the two sides were just a week ago — with Trump’s “fire and fury” vow and Kim’s specific threat prompting Guam to issue an advisory to its citizens on surviving a missile launch — the eased tensions were hailed as a promising development.
“If this results in a pause on everyone’s part I think it would be a good outcome,” Walsh said.