If there is one foreign policy goal that the Trump administration set for itself, it was North Korean denuclearization. Trump sat down with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un this June and emerged, to much fanfare, with an agreement that at the time he said had completely eliminated the threat from North Korea.
Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018
Barely six months on, there is little to show for the agreement. Talks have come to a standstill and North Korea has made little progress on the commitments that Trump said it had agreed to. The biggest blow to a deal yet, however, came on Thursday, when North Korea made clear that it had no intention of denuclearization
That statement, published by North Korean Central News Agency, said that North Korea would never give up its nuclear weapons until the U.S. removed what Pyongyang termed a “nuclear threat.” And what North Korea defines as a nuclear threat is something that Washington could never agree to.
Indeed, the statement implies that the U.S. would have to remove most of the more than 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea and remove the nuclear shield that protects South Korea as well as Japan — two key U.S. allies.
“The United States must now recognize the accurate meaning of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and especially, must study geography,” the stern statement reads. “When we talk about the Korean Peninsula, it includes the territory of our republic and also the entire region of [South Korea] where the United States has placed its invasive force, including nuclear weapons. When we talk about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, it means the removal of all sources of nuclear threat, not only from the South and North but also from areas neighboring the Korean Peninsula.”
Those demands would leave U.S. allies sitting ducks to North Korea’s existing nuclear capacity. In short: no deal.
That’s not surprising, given the North’s history of pretending to be interested in deals only to back out after receiving sanctions relief. This time around North Korea’s been sticking to the same playbook, while quietly developing its nuclear program.
Not only has Pyongyang made moves to conceal existing warheads, but it has also been working with foreign scientists in violation of U.S. sanctions.
But that does not mean that the Trump administration could not still make meaningful progress with North Korea. Indeed, arms control measures — even if they do not result in full denuclearization — would still be meaningful progress. And there’s plenty to do, from limiting chemical weapons to caps on certain types of warheads to bans on tests.
Switching gears from a hard line on complete denuclearization, of course, would require giving up on a clear priority and would likely invite criticism from supporters as a perceived retreat from demands — as the border wall funding decisions did this week.
But progress, even if imperfect, is still worthwhile. And when it comes to North Korea, mitigation of the threat, even if it is not completely removed, would still be a victory.
