Winter Games begin in the world’s hottest hot spot
For at least the next several weeks, the revelry of youth and Olympian glories of the Pyeongchang Games will push aside prospects of a bloody war on the Korean Peninsula.
A nascent thaw between North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae In resulted in an agreement that athletes from both countries march under one flag at Friday’s opening ceremonies and field a joint women’s hockey team.
It seems that productive discussions, however limited, can at least momentarily replace juvenile tit-for-tat invective about whose nuclear button is bigger.
So much for the good news.
The bad news is that Kim could just be buying time. The thaw might last no longer than the positive feelings from the Winter Games in Sochi four years ago, after which Russian President Vladimir Putin promptly annexed Crimea.
Kim appears as determined as ever to bristle with nuclear weapons, calling in a New Year’s speech for mass production of warheads and ballistic missiles, and boasting about being able to strike anywhere on the U.S. mainland.
To counter Kim’s nuclear ambitions, the Trump administration is weighing what’s being termed the “bloody nose” concept — a non-nuclear first strike by U.S. forces to reduce Kim’s arsenal and show that America means business.
You’d think that the 2003 Iraq War, which President Trump has rightly described as a debacle, would be enough to table the idea of a pre-emptive strike against a nation that hasn’t attacked America. Apparently not.
At best, such a strike would temporarily set back North Korea’s nuclear program, which features weapons scattered and buried in secret sites. At worst, it would risk escalation and retaliation that could leave the entire peninsula drenched in blood.
About 10 million South Koreans live in Seoul, only 35 miles from the North Korean border and well within range of North Korean artillery.
There are also up to 230,000 American civilians and servicemembers in that killing zone, as Trump’s one-time choice for South Korean ambassador, Georgetown University professor Victor Cha, pointed out — and then was subsequently sidelined for his reservations about the bloody-nose option.
Lost amid the saber rattling is a more promising approach, one for which Trump can claim credit: implementing the toughest sanctions yet against North Korea — sanctions that are isolating Kim and causing real pain. Vice President Pence announced Wednesday that even tougher sanctions are coming.
The world should be clear-eyed about Kim’s outreach during the Winter Olympics. He would love to drive a wedge between the United States and a South Korea eager for a diplomatic breakthrough.
Even so, Kim’s make-nice efforts also signal that he is hurting. This underscores that sanctions can work, and Trump should have the patience to let them keep working.