Trump, North Korea and China: Now what?
President’s policy remains unclear
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that efforts by China to try to influence North Korea have “not worked out,” apparently suggesting he is weighing new options for dealing with the pariah nation in the wake of the death of an American college student.
At the same time, his spokesman said the White House is “moving further away” from direct engagement with Pyongyang, throwing into question the administration’s strategy to contain the rogue nation’s growing nuclear threat.
Meanwhile, the United States flew two supersonic bombers over the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday in a show of force against North Korea, South Korean officials said.
Mr. Trump posted a statement on Twitter the day after a 22-yearold college student died in Cincinnati after spending more than a year imprisoned in the isolated nation.
Otto Warmbier, who was held for allegedly stealing a propaganda banner, was returned to the U.S. last week in a coma with extensive brain damage. He died Monday.
Mr. Trump said afterward that the American government should have secured his release sooner, calling his treatment “a disgrace” and the North Korean government “a brutal regime.”
A cause of death hasn’t been determined for Mr. Warmbier, the Hamilton County coroner’s office said Tuesday. Several neurologists agreed there is no way to know for certain what caused Mr. Warmbier’s coma — it could have been anything from an allergic reaction to a drug overdose to strangulation or some other kind of torture.
The furor in the U.S. over Mr. Warmbier’s death was seen as recalling the raw emotions felt after a chemical weapons attack in Syria killed children, which prompted Mr. Trump to fire cruise missiles at Bashar Assad’s regime. Yet dropping bombs on Kim Jong Un’s nation — an option Mr. Trump’s administration says is still on the table — is so risky that many analysts see it as implausible because of North Korea’s ability to launch a devastating attack on Seoul.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer didn’t signal any change in the administration’s approach to North Korea in a briefing Tuesday, saying the U.S. “will continue to apply economicand political pressure and try to continue to work withour allies.”
He added: “China has played and can continue to play a greater role helping to resolvethis situation.”
But shortly after Mr. Spicer spoke, Mr. Trump posted his statement on Twitter. “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know Chinatried!” he wrote.
At the State Department, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is weighing a ban on U.S. citizens traveling to North Korea, a rare step that would seek to stop the flow of an estimated 1,000 Americans who travel there each year.
In Congress, Democrats and Republicans found rare bipartisan consensus in denouncing the North. Several senators said they were considering a travel ban. In the House, lawmakers lined up behind legislation from Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat, and Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican.
Under their proposal, the Treasury Department would be ordered to prohibit all financial transactions related to travel to North Korea by Americans, unless specifically authorized by a U.S. license. No licenses would be issued for tourism.
Also, the U.S. military saidthe B-1Bs flying over the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday conducted two separate drills with the Japanese and South Korean air forces. It said the flights demonstrated solidarity among South Korea, Japan and the U.S. “to defend against provocative and destabilizing actions in the Pacific theater.”
Mr. Trump’s administration talked up the threat of war earlier this year, sending aircraft carrier strike groups to the region and holding military exercises with allies Japan and South Korea. In April, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that a war would devastatethe region.
Since then, things had appeared to calm down. North Korea has refrained from testing a nuclear device and it has yet to test an intercontinental ballistic missile that could deliver a warhead to North America. In turn, U.S. officials focused more on diplomaticefforts.
In one interview, Mr. Trump appeared to empathize with Mr. Kim, telling Reuters that taking over North Korea after his father’s death was “a very hard thing to do.” He told Bloomberg in May that he’d be open to meeting Mr. Kim underthe right conditions.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that U.S. diplomats have already held discussions for more than a year with North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator, focused on freeing American prisoners. Mr. Warmbier’s death undercuts any progress from those meetings.
Mr. Trump’s administration has sought to pressure the 164 nations that have diplomatic ties with North Korea to downgrade or cut them. Mostly, the administration has focused on pressuring China, which provides most of North Korea’s food and fuel imports. China has backed the Kim dynasty since the Korean War, in part to keep U.S. troops away from its border.
While China has taken some steps — including halting coal purchases this year after Mr. Kim’s half brother was murdered with a chemical weapon in Malaysia — its efforts haven’t produced a breakthrough so far.
The death may make it harder for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who took power last month, to convince Mr. Trump of the benefits of greater engagement with North Korea.