U.S. to soften tone on North Korea
‘Going quiet’ allows Pyongyang to dial down rhetoric, officials say
WASHINGTON— The Obama administration, which has made military moves intended to signal to North Korea and U.S. allies that it takes Pyongyang’s threats seriously, plans to switch gears and tone down public pronouncements about joint military exercises with Seoul, U.S. officials said Thursday.
The U.S. messaging — which has included flying two B-2 stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula and the announcement of new or expanded missile defence systems in Alaska and Guam — was intended to reassure South Korea and Japan that it would back them in a crisis, the officials said.
But it appears to have prompted even greater threats and bellicose rhetoric from North Korea.
“Our actions thus far have had their intended effect: they’ve shown our deterrence capability and our willingness to defend South Korea,” said one U.S. official. “We always make adjustments, and if going quiet for a short period of time gives the North Koreans space to dial back their rhetoric, fine.”
U.S. officials say they do not see a conflict with North Korea as imminent. And they have told U.S. allies that Pyongyang’s threats of war appear to be just talk, according to United Nations diplomats.
Washington still plans to forge ahead with joint military exercises with South Korea, which Pyongyang has branded a “rehearsal for invasion,” said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
These exercises include an amphibious assault drill by the United States and South Korea at the end of April. The exercises, named “Foal Eagle,” began on March 1 and will end on April 30.
“It’s not so much that we’re dialing back the exercises. We may not be as public about it,” the official said.
Last week, in a pointed message to Pyongyang, the U.S. military command in South Korea announced a first-of-its-kind practice bombing drill by B-2 stealth bombers over South Korea.
Two of the nuclear-capable, batwinged planes flew from their U.S. base to drop dummy munitions on a South Korean range, and then returned home.
U.S. hopes of easing the crisis could face a bumpy road.
Western officials on Thursday confirmed that North Korea has moved a rocket, apparently a medium-range missile known as a Musudan or Nodong B, to its east coast. Experts said it was unclear if the missile was moved as a menacing gesture or in preparation for test firing. Analysts are anxiously looking ahead to April 15, the birthday of Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founder and the grandfather of its current leader, Kim Jong Un. The anniversary is a time of mass celebrations, nationalist fervour and sometimes demonstrations of military prowess. While U.S. officials can’t rule out a North Korean provocation, such as a rocket launch, they said there are no signs Pyongyang is truly gearing up for war.
Britain’s ambassador to the United States, Peter Westmacott, told reporters on Thursday there was a sense that “this is the usual game that is played every decade or so.”
“The experts seem to be still of the view that this is a degree of theatre, of game-playing, which is familiar, but some of the stuff has been more extreme than what’s happened in the past,” Westmacott said.
Some U.S. officials believe Pyongyang’s bellicosity is aimed primarily at a domestic audience.
They see Kim trying to keep his vast, poorly paid army motivated by using anti-U.S. propaganda, and trying to improve his status among North Korea’s largely poor population by standing up to foreign enemies, even as he seeks to cement his grip on power.