[imText1]The Heritage Foundation’s Bruce Klingner gave his and the Foundation’s perspective on the “Obama Administration’s Policy toward Korean Peninsula” to press and academics yesterday, asserting that Pyongyang seems “intent on… a viable ICBM and nuclear capability,” at an event organized by the U.S. Embassy in Seoul in association with the Peace Foundation.
Klingner seemed extremely negative about the chances of a negotiated solution to the North Korean nuclear issue, and even urged Washington to embark on making “quiet contingency plans with Japan and South Korea” for the event that “we come to the conclusion that North Korea really doesn’t want to negotiate away its nuclear weapons.”
Klingner described that the prevailing feeling among North Korea experts in the U.S. these days is also one of pessimism; that it is unlikely that a diplomatic solution to the NK problem is to be found, and that North Korea seems “no longer interested, if it ever was, in using diplomacy to solve the nuclear problem.”
Klingner nevertheless suggested a two-handed approach for the future, in spite of the fact that North Korea has been rebuffing any American advances for some time. He says that the international community, focused on the U.S., should be prepared to engage with North Korea on any issue at all, some linked to nuclear issues and many not. However, at the same time as holding open the door to engagement of any hue, international agreements should still be strictly upheld, international law should still be strictly followed, and UN resolutions pertaining to this issue should not be ignored. Klingner stated that the Obama administration should certainly not be prepared to “buy Yongbyon for the third time!”
In the end, Klingner returned to a pessimistic note, stating that “I do not believe that North Korea will give up their nuclear weapons.” Either way, “we’re in for a very bumpy and potentially dangerous ride!”
