Korea talks should be pursued

They present an opportunity for us and our allies to coordinate strategy

No one questions the size of Donald Trump’s nuclear button. Instead of bragging about it on Twitter to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, the president might try spending more time on the phone with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Mr. Kim is clearly hoping for the opposite. In addition to taunting the U.S. by claiming to have his own “button,” he used his New Year’s address to take up Mr. Moon’s offer of talks over the upcoming Winter Olympics in South Korea. The timing suggests, as Mr. Kim himself did in his speech, that international sanctions are beginning to cause real pain inside North Korea. Presumably, he’s counting on exploiting Mr. Moon’s oft-stated desire for a rapprochement in order to ease pressure on his regime and drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington.

That’s no reason not to hold talks. It’s important to remember that South Korea, not the North, first proposed negotiations — as well as a delay in joint military exercises with the U.S. until after the Olympics. If such a pause now induces Mr. Kim not to interfere with the Olympics, or even to send North Korean athletes to the Games, it would be a small victory and a respite from months of mounting tension on the peninsula.

It’s also important to remember that talks are valuable in themselves. Trying to divine Mr. Kim’s thinking from North Korean propaganda broadcasts is about as unrewarding as deconstructing Mr. Trump’s tweets. By contrast, taking up Mr. Kim’s invitation for dialogue through multiple channels could open new windows into the North Korean regime’s stability and priorities.

If continued talks are predicated on a pause in the North’s nuclear and longrange missile tests, they will have served a useful purpose. In the most optimistic scenario, they could lay the groundwork for multilateral negotiations over denuclearizing the peninsula.

Even a more modest goal is worthwhile: The talks are an opportunity for the U.S. and South Korea to forge a more coherent and coordinated strategy for dealing with the North.