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Don’t Pay North Korea to Engage in Diplomacy

Chonma-ho
North Korean Chonma-ho Tank. Image: KCNA.

After a long diplomatic slumber, Pyongyang seems ready to engage, albeit on its own terms. North Korea has not sat down with U.S. negotiators in working-level talks — or any talks, with anyone — since October 2019, a meeting it seemed to want to sabotage as a sort of revenge for President Donald Trump’s refusal to agree to its terms for a nuclear deal in Hanoi back in February 2018.

Since the end of 2019 until the present day, Pyongyang has used an odd and disorganized mix of threatsmissile testsfiery op-eds, and explosive shows of force to signal that not only was it ready for an new round of tensions, but that it was prepared to demonstrate even larger missile platforms, such as a massive new ICBM, if pushed into a corner.

That should all have been expected, as Pyongyang loves to show strength in moments of weakness, page one in its diplomatic playbook. North Korea was one of the first nations to recognize the threat coming from the COVID-19 pandemic, locking down its land borders with China and Russia and halting nearly all trade with anyone. The economic impact, as one would imagine, has been devastating. While experts debate the exact numerical cost of the lockdowns, North Korea clearly went into an economic depression from which it will surely take years to recover.

You can read the rest here at Responsible Statecraft. 

Written By

Harry J. Kazianis (@Grecianformula) is Senior Director at the Center for the National Interest. He has held senior positions at the the Heritage Foundation, the Potomac Foundation, and many other think tanks and academic institutions focused on defense issues. He served on the Russia task force for U.S. Presidential Candidate Senator Ted Cruz, and in a similar task force in the John Hay Initiative. His ideas have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, CNN, CNBC, and many other outlets across the political spectrum. He holds a graduate degree in International Relations from Harvard University and is the author of The Tao of A2/AD, a study of Chinese military modernization. Kazianis also has a background in defense journalism, having served as Editor-In-Chief at The Diplomat and Executive Editor for the National Interest.

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