American Soldier Pvt. Travis King crossing over to North Korea has thrown Washington, who currently has a tense relationship with North Korea in a more difficult position. The history of relations between the two nations is anything but simple. It was at the beginning of the Korean War, when the US, fearing involvement from China and the USSR, decided to help the Republic of Korea or South Korea along with UN forces.
After the war ended the US and North Korea never really had formal relations, but instead, used neutral intermediaries to indirectly reach diplomatic compromises or understandings. The US has seen North Korea as an important military threat. Relations between the US and North Korea have been fraught thanks to a mix of volatile reasons including a mix of land occupation, perceived threats from each other, misconceptions and sometimes misrepresentations of facts with biased views, and several grievances attributed to historical events.
One of the chief reasons the North hates the US is because, the the US and USSR failed to come to an understanding after Japan's colonial rule of Korea, post which, the US and the USSR agreed to divide and occupy Korea as a trusteeship temporarily. An arrangement that was supposed to help establish an independent government in a unified Korea, However, the two sides failed to come to an agreement, and two parallel governments came into being.
Communist rule in the North controls free expression, controls access to information, and largely promotes anti-US propaganda. The North views the US to be the main reason for the continued division of the Koreas. For South Korea, a partnership with the US is important as it is only with the backing of the US, can they face the North. In May this year, the sister of North Korea's Kim Jong Un, Kim Yo Jong made some strong statements on an agreement between the South and the US to take decisive action in the event of North Korea’s nuclear attack.
She said the agreement reflects “the most hostile and aggressive will of action” against North Korea exposing the world to serious danger. The North has conducted 20 missile tests since the beginning of 2023. The nation has been keen on developing its nuclear program and missile capabilities for 60 years now. The US' push towards de-nuclearisation, on the other hand, has been another key reason why there's a lack of diplomatic relations between the North and the US.
In 2017, a riled-up former president Donald Trump had said that the US would rain down 'fire and fury' on the North in response to its weapons test. Post this, Trump and Kim Jong Un met in Singapore in 2018, where they signed a short statement vowing to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." the two leaders met again in 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam. That summit, however, ended abruptly after the two leaders failed to agree on how to pair sanctions relief with steps to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program.
If North Korea agreed to cease testing weapons, particularly missiles, then it would open up the possibility for the US to have a different kind of relationship with the cash-strapped country. If not, however, there's a plausibility that the North may have an upper hand.
To come out somewhat victorious from this tangle, US policymakers might need to toe carefully around North Korea's unwillingness to do away with its nuclear arsenal. It would become of essence that the US tries to do away with some policies that look hostile towards North Korea, for example, the ban on Americans travelling to North Korea; maybe even throw in a carrot or two in the form of sporting or educational projects. It may, with time, open up a regular diplomatic channel. The path to de-nuclearization could be reached through successful arms control.
Failure of the Kim-Trump Hanoi summit is, largely, Kim's fault as in return for the complete dismantlement of the nuclear program, he demanded complete (almost) sanctions relief. But, it now falls on Biden to get the ball rolling by offering to remove a few sanctions, which could be reinstated, if the North fails to keep their end of the bargain, which could be something other than completely dismantling their nuclear program-- the approach may or may not work. The US could probably bring in backing from South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol for sanctions relief, which might make it seem that there's value in talking with Biden. The US should be able to get North Korea to at least stop testing weapons.
