Trump administration has settled on policy of “maximum pressure and engagement,” meaning tough sanctions and option of dialogue

With the administration of US President Donald Trump wrapping up its review of North Korea policy, the US and North Korea, which had been racing toward a confrontation, seem to be taking a breather. The Trump administration appears to be shifting its focus from talk of a preemptive strike on North Korea to the simultaneous use of pressure and sanctions to bring about a peaceful resolution.

Speaking with reporters following a meeting with South Korean acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn at the Prime Minister’s Residence, located in the Samcheong neighborhood of Seoul, on Apr. 17, US Vice President Mike Pence described the North Korean nuclear issue as the “most dangerous and urgent threat” and said that “the era of strategic patience is over.”

“The United States and our allies have stood together for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. We hope to achieve this objective through peaceable means,” Pence declared. The Trump administration was essentially announcing that its goal is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that the overarching principle of its North Korean policy is to achieve this goal through peaceful means.

During a visit to the DMZ on the morning of the same day, Pence stated that the US was resolved to achieve security “through peaceable means, through negotiations.” While he still emphasized that “all options are on the table,” this appears to be a clear step back from the recent action of the Trump administration, which had even talked about a preemptive strike against the North.

“We’re going to abandon the failed policy of strategic patience. But we’re going to redouble our efforts to bring diplomatic and economic pressure to bear on North Korea. Our hope is that we can resolve this issue [the North Korean nuclear program] peaceably,” Pence said in a separate interview with CNN.

Pence’s remarks are consistent with news from Washington over the past few days. The Associated Press reported on Apr. 14 that the Trump administration had completed its review of North Korean policy after more than two months and that it had settled on a policy of “maximum pressure and engagement.” This is understood to mean that the US will place more pressure on North Korea than before through sanctions and other means, but that it could be more proactive about engagement (that is, dialogue) when the conditions are right. This also corresponds to remarks made the day before by US National Security Advisor HR McMaster in which he specifically ruled out the military option.

“McMaster was sending the message that [the US] is clearly moving away from the military option. Pence also appears to have distanced himself from the use of force in his remarks,” said John Delury, a professor at Yonsei University‘s Graduate School of International Studies. “Even so, [the US] is not talking about dialogue and negotiations, which suggests that ultimately it means to use China to put even more pressure on North Korea,” Delury added.

“Until the US-China summit on Apr. 6 and 7, the US reviewed a wide range of North Korean policies, from hardline policies such as a preemptive strike on North Korea and regime change to recognizing North Korea as a nuclear weapon state. This resulted in the creation of the North Korean policy framework of ‘maximum pressure and engagement,’ which excludes the two extremes of military action and recognition as nuclear weapon state,” said Korea National Strategy Institute director Kim Chang-soo.

“At first, the US will probably wield a ‘bigger stick’ by cranking up pressure to the highest possible level, but when fatigue over sanctions and pressure sets in, it could bring about a ‘bigger carrot’ in an attempt to come to terms with North Korea,” Kim added.

By Jung In-hwan and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporters

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