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How Donald Trump Should Negotiate with North Korea

Donald Trump
President Trump Delivers Remarks on the America First Healthcare Plan.

The following is a short interview I did with Jung Jae-young of the Segye Ilbo on where Donald Trump or Joe Biden could take North Korea policy next year. Needless to say, both would have very different approaches:

If President Donald Trump succeeds in re-election in the November election, what change do you think will be made in the U.S. policy toward North Korea? what do you think the South Korean government should make a top priority? 

President Trump must change the order in which he wishes to achieve a so-called breakthrough with North Korea.

Trump must establish a baseline of trust with Kim far beyond letters and media-friendly summits. To do that, Trump must make denuclearization the end goal of a normalization process with the DPRK—not the beginning. Because asking North Korea to give up their best and only pieces of leverage—their nuclear weapons—is a recipe for disaster.

Trump must focus on ending the Korean War—so both sides have a big victory of historic consequence—to jump-start any negotiation and give both sides momentum.

Next, liaison offices must be set up so both sides can have a firm way to communicate besides flattering letters.

Then, arms control on different types of conventional weapons should be addressed to lead into talks on denuclearization.

It is only a step-by-step approach, tackling harder and more challenging issues overtime and building trust along the way can we see a true breakthrough.

Anything else is just a fantasy—such a demanding Kim Jong-un gives up his nuclear weapons first.

If Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden wins the November election, what changes do you think will be made to the U.S. policy toward North Korea? what do you think the Korean government should make a top priority?

Joe Biden will likely fall back on advisers who would simply want to go back to days of foolish strategic patience—meaning that until North Korea makes the call that nuclear weapons harm their national security and not enhance it there will be no talks.

That was the policy that by and large allowed North Korea the strategic space to develop long-range missiles, miniaturized nuclear warheads and hydrogen bombs.

I can only fear that repeating that same mistake will allow Kim to develop MIRVd style ICBMs, higher yield nuclear weapons and methods to defeat U.S. missile defenses. And that would be a tragic mistake.

Written By

Harry J. Kazianis (@Grecianformula) is Editor-In-Chief of 19FortyFive and President of Rogue States Project, the think tank arm of the publication. Kazianis recently served as Senior Director of National Security Affairs at the Center for the National Interest. He also served as Executive Editor of its publishing arm, The National Interest. Kazianis has held various roles at The National Interest, including Senior Editor and Managing Editor over the last decade. Harry is a recognized expert on national security issues involving North & South Korea, China, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and general U.S. foreign policy and national security challenges. Past Experience Kazianis previously served as part of the foreign policy team for the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Ted Cruz. Kazianis also managed the foreign policy communications efforts of the Heritage Foundation, served as Editor-In-Chief of the Tokyo-based The Diplomat magazine, Editor of RealClearDefense, and as a WSD-Handa Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): PACNET. Kazianis has also held foreign policy fellowships at the Potomac Foundation and the University of Nottingham. Kazianis is the author of the book The Tao of A2/AD, an exploration of China’s military capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region. He has also authored several reports on U.S. military strategy in the Asia-Pacific as well as edited and co-authored a recent report on U.S.-Japan-Vietnam trilateral cooperation. Kazianis has provided expert commentary, over 900 op-eds, and analysis for many outlets, including The Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, Yonhap, The New York Times, Hankyoreh, The Washington Post, MSNBC, 1945, Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, USA Today, CNBC, Politico, The Financial Times, NBC, Slate, Reuters, AP, The Washington Examiner, The Washington Times, RollCall, RealClearPolitics, LA Times, Newsmax, BBC, Foreign Policy, The Hill, Fortune, Forbes, DefenseOne, Newsweek, NPR, Popular Mechanics, VOA, Yahoo News, National Security Journal and many others.

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