[Editorial] Withdrawal of Victor Cha’s ambassadorship nomination shows “bloody nose” strike being actively considered

Posted on : 2018-02-01 17:01 KST Modified on : 2018-02-01 17:01 KST
President Donald Trump speaks to Congress during his State of the Union address in Washington
President Donald Trump speaks to Congress during his State of the Union address in Washington

In US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Jan. 30, he promised to keep putting pressure on North Korea. He urged renewed caution about the North, asserting that the Pyongyang’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons could soon pose a threat to the US mainland. He also brought up the issue of North Korean human rights, citing Otto Warmbier, who died after being released from the North last year, and the North Korean defector Ji Seong-ho. Trump even dramatically highlighted the North Korean human rights issue by personally introducing Ji, whom he had invited to Congress, and telling Ji’s life story.

Trump effectively replaced invective with pathos in his rhetorical toolbox. But in the final analysis, Trump’s State of the Union address remains disappointing since it repeated his current hardline stance without offering a proactive solution to the North Korean nuclear issue. Nor should we overlook the fact that Victor Cha, whose nomination as US Ambassador to South Korea was abruptly withdrawn on the same day as Trump’s State of the Union address, used an op-ed for the Washington Post to disclose his disagreement with some officials in the Trump administration who advocate a preventative military strike.

Victor Cha
Victor Cha

While we would prefer not to assume that a policy disagreement among hardliners was the reason for the sudden withdrawal of Cha’s nomination after South Korea had already approved the appointment, at the least, it’s worrisome that the dangerous argument for a preemptive strike against North Korea is still being made at the White House.

On the other hand, it’s somewhat reassuring that Trump did not explicitly mention the “military option” in regard to the North Korean nuclear issue during his State of the Union address. This suggests that Trump is exercising some restraint amid the inter-Korean dialogue that the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics has made possible.

Experts have repeatedly observed that the North Korean nuclear issue can’t be resolved through pressure alone. Veteran American diplomat Henry Kissinger’s recent suggestion that the North Korean nuclear issue can be resolved by reviving the Six Party Talks can be ultimately understood as emphasizing dialogue and negotiations. In that case, what we need are proposals for solutions that go beyond a sole reliance on pressure.

The US needs to proactively treat the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as an opportunity for peacefully resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. But purely based on the mood during Trump’s State of the Union address, it doesn’t seem likely that he’s about to engage in meaningful dialogue with the North. What is critical at such times is the stance of the South Korean government. Seoul needs to channel its wisdom and strength into creating a virtuous cycle that links the progress in inter-Korean relations enabled by the Pyeongchang Olympics to North Korea-US dialogue with the goal of finally resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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