The North Korean leader Kim Jong un took power in late 2011. Since then the North has launched a three stage rocket and tested a nuclear device. After the United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions in last month for the country s third nuclear test in February North Korea s s rhetoric became even more aggressive. It threatened to hit American cities with nuclear armed ballistic missiles and declared itself to be in a state of war with South Korea.
For their part the United States and South Korea went ahead with a joint military exercise then upped the ante. Washington deployed extra ships sent B 2 stealth bombers F 22 stealth fighter jets and B 52 bombers on practice runs over the South and on Wednesday announced it was setting up a land based missile defense system in Guam. On Monday South Korea s president Park Geun hye vowed to strike back quickly if the North stages an attack.
The Obama administration was prudent to bolster its forces in the region. Many experts assume Mr. Kim won t attack the world s top military power or its allies but Washington has an obligation to guarantee that if this assumption is wrong it can defend the homeland. There are also sound reasons to reassure South Korea and Japan that America s defense commitments remain firm some politicians in both countries are pushing their governments to develop their own nuclear weapons programs which would be disastrous and unnecessary. Finally there is a message in all this to China namely that if it will not rein in the ally it keeps afloat with food fuel and trade then Washington will contain it.
But it s clearly time to find ways to calm the crisis there is no way to ensure that Mr. Kim in particular won t miscalculate and trigger a serious confrontation. The Obama administration and North Korea in recent days have sent mixed messages in this regard. Secretary of State John Kerry s declaration on Tuesday that the United States would negotiate seriously on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula was helpful. But it could prove more useful to encourage Ms. Park who has talked of engaging the North to take the lead perhaps by exploring Mr. Kim s recent comments about wanting to talk about development.
China remains central to any coherent strategy and some Chinese elites have urged Beijing to abandon its ally. Whether that happens China needs to robustly enforce the United Nations sanctions it helped enact and stand with the United States and others in delivering a unified message that North Korea will never be accepted as a nuclear weapons state but that there is a path to economic revival and security if it chooses to take it. Plotting next steps should be high on the agenda when Mr. Kerry visits Beijing next week. There s no guarantee any strategy will be successful but military escalation is no answer either.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar