North Korea Revelations Should Neither Surprise the U.S. Nor Derail Talks

Several media reports citing theU.S. intelligence community andarms control experts indicate that North Korea has upgraded its infrastructure for building nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in recent months. The revelations counteractTrump ’s optimistic tweet that “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat [sic] from North Korea” following his summit with Kim Jong Un last month.The United States should not be surprised by these developments. The Trump-Kim summit was not the culmination of a long, arduous diplomatic process as most summits are, but a high-profile meeting that had far more symbolic value than nitty-gritty arms control substance. This was theexpected outcome given the short period of time to prepare for the summit and the fact that italmost fell apart just a few weeks before it happened. Additionally, Kim made no pledge to halt construction of ballistic missiles, fissile material, or related infrastructure, and it isn ’t surprising that he would want tokeep expanding these capabilities until it is necessary to give them up.Concessions made byWashington andPyongyang have built some trust and momentum for diplomacy, but this is not sufficient to achieve denuclearization. Looking ahead, U.S. negotiators should take these recent revelations seriously and press Pyongyang to reveal more information about its nuclear and missile infrastructure. The United States should also demand that North Korea allow inspectors to keep tabs on nuclear and missile facilities an...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs