Experts Think the Biden Administration Will Be More Flexible on North Korean Sanctions

Here is what the experts think a Biden administration means to U.S. diplomacy in Korea:

Joe Biden’s election as U.S. president could give South Korea more “room” in handling inter-Korean affairs, as he is expected to respect the alliance and listen more to what Seoul has to say on inter-Korean matters, experts said Sunday.

His “principled” diplomacy on North Korea, however, could raise tensions and fail to produce any immediate breakthrough in denuclearization talks, which experts said could make it hard for Seoul to pursue many of its envisioned cooperative and reconciliatory cross-border projects.

Biden has vowed to strengthen the alliance with its allies, including South Korea, in what appears aimed at differentiating himself from President Donald Trump, who has often derided friends and allies and denounced them as free riders.

“Respecting the alliance means turning his ears to the ally’s opinions on issues such as inter-Korean affairs, which has rarely been seen under the Trump administration,” Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said.

“If South Korea says it wants to improve inter-Korean relations, Biden will listen to it. He could also take a more flexible approach in applying sanctions on the North than the Trump administration attempting to keep cross-border relations in check through sanctions,” he added. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I would not be surprised that if a few months into the Biden administration that the Kim regime will provoke a provocation cycle to see what Biden does. I believe they will probably not do anything decisive and just manage the problem like the Obama administration did.

Trump tried to do something decisive on the issue, but it just didn’t work because he didn’t understand that the Kim regime had no intention of denuclearizing.