Enlarging the North Korean Pie

Happy Hump Day! It has been a while since my last post, and I'm thinking today of North Korea.

I've been doing a lot of research into mutual US-North Korean concerns in the context of Six-Party Talks. Last week, I had an opportunity to participate in an enlightening simulation, facilitated by Nicole Finneman of the Korea Economic Institute, and although I was given the role of South Korea in the talks, and despite the fact that the actual briefings and negotiations limited the number of issues for all six parties to debate to just three points of contention, I learned so much from that exercise.

Here are my thoughts, broadly speaking: the fundamental concern for the US is North Korea's nuclear weapons program. We see it as a threat to the stability of the region. We have vital strategic interests that we seek to protect. Moreover, by developing its weapons program North Korea is in defiance of international law (think 1968 NPT and numerous UN Security Council resolutions, particularly UNSCR 1874). So the United States, as a permanent member on the Security Council and as the steward of the global nonproliferation regime, has a legal and moral obligation to work with other nations to incite, coerce, pressure and even force the DPRK to give up its weapons.

North Korea's primary concern, however, isn't its nukes program. In fact, those nuclear weapons are actually its only bargaining chip -- and what a hell of a chip, at that. From the North's perspective, the fact that it has a nuclear weapons program is the only thing that has the United States at the table at all. And when you think about it, that's a very accurate perception.

No, the DPRK issue is also the stability of the region. After being locked in a dispute for over 50 years with South Korea over the 38th Parallel border (that war, legally, is still ongoing), and with a desire to join the fold of the international community -- to "come in from the cold," so to speak -- the DPRK sees its nukes as the only leverage it has to get from other nations the things it really needs: food, economic aid, energy assistance. North Korea has a bitter history with Japan, doesn't trust its southern brethren (missiles aimed right at Seoul), and feels pressure from the United States to disarm. Combined with the constant threat of internal collapse, my feeling is that North Korea's already acute fear of isolation from the international community has only become further exacerbated in the wake of heightened tensions over an upcoming joint US-South Korea military exercise. So it's important, above all else, that North Korea find security and stability on the Peninsula.

Interesting, huh? We (the US and North Korea) actually have common concerns and mutual interests, which should incite us to come together to explore how we can "enlarge the pie," rather than simply decide how to divide a pie of fixed size. One challenge is that while the DPRK has been calling for bilateral US-North Korea talks for a long time, the US has steadfastly refused to negotiate on the side, insisting that any and all talks be done at the hexagonal table. There are other complications as well, of course.

So look for further thoughts on North Korea in the near future, as I explore exactly why the two countries aren't leveraging mutual interests to advance a shared agenda, and how this obstacle can be overcome.