President Obama is still plugging away to use diplomacy with North Korea. It is clear that Obama believes diplomacy accomplishes more than muscle. Perhaps it is time that we embrace this new philosophy.
The US is still trying to resume the discussions with North Korea and four other nations about their nuclear program. On Tuesday, a North Korean foreign minister stated, “We will never again take part in such talks and will not be bound by any agreement reached at the talks.” What’s the reason for their strong opposition to these discussions? North Korea is upset because the US has criticized North Korea for the recent missile testing. The US negotiator for North Korea stated that it could take up to a year for the six party discussions to resume.
In all honesty, I don’t understand what North Korea is doing. Who are they trying to fool? They continually call their test missile a satellite launch and then lash out at nations who call their bluff. We have a difficult history of relations with North Korea. In 2007 when it looked like we had reached an effective disarmament deal, North Korea began pulling away. The reason – we wanted to verify that they had in fact disarmed. My question is this: how can you work with a nation that is opposed to verification of disarmament? What agreements can we reach if we are not allowed to enter the country and verify that North Korea has relinquished their weapons facilities? Perhaps Obama’s diplomatic skills will carry us out of this debacle. However I can’t help but think that North Korea is set on disagreeing with the United States.
