Month: November 2020

Seventy years ago, this week, China entered the Korean War in order to aid a retreating North Korean army. President Xi Jinping didn’t mince words speaking at the ceremonies. He made it very clear that China, a young nation at the time, was not afraid of this imperial super power coming to their side of the planet to wage war. 

President Trump indiscriminately takes shots at President Ping seemingly every chance he gets, continually stoking the fiery tension between the two that has only been exasperated since COVID-19 has hit US soil. Almost like a rallying call, President Xi, appeals to the Chinese citizens differently than he had when giving a speech on the same subject matter 10 years ago as the vice president. There’s much more fervor in his language and he does not mince words when he states, in reference to the brave Chinese soldiers who gave their lives in the war, “They smashed the myth that the American military is invincible.”

State run propaganda has also seemed to be ramped up to depict America as these savage invaders, who needed to be stopped. As generations progress, wars like the Korean war can be seen as in eternity ago to a nation’s youth, and that is often forgotten that many players in these wars still exist in our world today. 

In order to continually educate their youth on the Korean War, a film titled, “The Sacrifice,” was released that depicts Chinese soldiers keeping a river crossing open against relentless American bombardment. The film depicts an American pilot marveling at the tenacity of the Chinese soldiers below and radios back to his commanders that their attacks have failed. In the film the American pilot eerily states, “There’s nothing we can do to stop them,” almost as if the Chinese states want to remind its people that they’ve staved off America before and they are prepared to do so again if necessary.  

Myers, S., & Buckley, C. (2020, October 23). In Xi’s Homage to Korean War, a Jab at the U.S. Retrieved November 01, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/world/asia/china-us-korean-war.html?referringSource=articleShare

 

No, “Mad” or “Rabid Dog” this time doesn’t describe Gen. Mattis, and “Tyrant” not the yet 45^th President of the United States.[1]

Rabid dogs like Baiden [sic] can hurt lots of people if they are allowed to run about. They must be beaten to death with a stick before it is too late. Doing so will be beneficial for the U.S. also.[2]

This is how Kim Jong Un called FRM Vice President Biden and Biden called his North Korean offender a Tyrant. It seems these two are not friends.

In just two days Americans will decide who will be the 46^th President of the United States- and who will take the duty to deal with a country which built the largest vehicle-launched ballistic missile the world has ever seen. Should Mr. Biden take the Oval Office, however, they must overcome the animosity they put on display during the last weeks,

North Korea and its “Tyrant” as Biden said managed one thing for sure: to mislead practically the entire world and become under our very nose a nuclear power with more than 100 missiles. The 2018 visit of Trump and 2019 hopes to close the sad chapter of the Korean-Korean conflict seem now to be a staged theater play without a happy end.

But if not with talks like Trump how could Biden deal with North Korea? The commercial or military threat would not work. North Korea is already isolated and sanctioned. Probably the only country, which keeps the ties is China, and who would risk a military confrontation?

First of all, one cannot reach real results with inconsequent actions. As Stanton et al[3] suggest in “How to Hit Pyongyang Where It Hurts ”

The United States should begin fining and sanctioning the Chinese banks that illegally maintain relationships with North Korean banks and fail to report suspicious North Korean transactions to the U.S. Treasury Department.

It seems Mr. Biden will not want to deal directly with the Dictator from Pyongyang but it also seems that he has either an idea what to do. And North Korea keeps poking the bear, recently with the presentation of the monstrous nuclear rocket. It is like in Kindergarten; when you can’t impress with the old toys you need to have a bigger one and show it to everyone.

The solution of the conflict seems to be somewhere between Beijing and Washington, and between Washington and Pyongyang and it seems very much that the wisdom quoted by Yang et al[4] proves true

all roads to Pyongyang have to go through Beijing first.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/north-korea-calls-biden-a-rabid-dog-who-deserves-to-be-beaten-to-death/2019/11/14/09583e84-0748-11ea-b388-434b5c1d7dd8_story.html

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/north-korea-calls-biden-a-rabid-dog-who-deserves-to-be-beaten-to-death/2019/11/14/09583e84-0748-11ea-b388-434b5c1d7dd8_story.html

[3] Joshua Stanton, Sung-Yoon Lee, and Bruce Klinger, “Getting Tough on North Korea: How to Hit Pyongyang Where it Hurts, Foreign Affairs (Vol. 96, No. 3), May/June 2017, pp. 65-74

[4] Xiangfeng Yang, “China’s Clear and Present Conundrum on the Korean Peninsula: stuck between the past and the future,” International Affairs, Vol. 94, No. 3 (May 2018), pp. 595-611

The U.S. Institute of Peace is making a U.S.-DPRK policy recommendation on how Washington can possibly and effectively get along with North Korea in the pursuit of its denuclearization agenda. They are suggesting that the U.S. must first recognize that the ultimate goal for all sides is to achieve peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. Given Kim Jong-Un is willing to cooperate provided the US commits to “new U.S.–DPRK relations” and build “a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.” Therefore, Washington can prioritize peace in parallel with denuclearization by reaching out.

Second, there must be a reciprocity and proportionality approach, meaning the US must be willing to establish diplomatic relations with North Korea by lifting up the travel ban, have liaison offices in both capitals, engage in humanitarian assistance etc. This will reduce tensions and pave the way for denuclearization. Obviously, North Korea will not will give up his nuclear program overnight, that is why there must be discussions on both side’s security concerns, but the US must not loose sight of the overall goal.

Finally, the US must bring China and South Korea on board if it wants to win over the DPRK. There is definitely going to be challenges given US interests in the Korean peninsula do not align with those of China. That is why Washington must widen the talks by involving Beijing and Seoul. So, the outcome of the November 3 election will determine the course of US foreign policy with North Korea.

https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/10/four-ideas-more-practical-approach-north-korea