Korea Expert Claims that Republican Mid-Term Win Could Impact Ability to Denuclearize North Korea
I see no way any politician would be able to flip the Kim regime away from China and Russia and to suddenly denuclearize. North Korea has made it clear repeatedly they have no intention of denuclearizing and want to be recognized as a nuclear weapons state:
South Korea should prepare for a United States controlled by more isolationists and skeptics regarding American intervention in foreign affairs as Washington braces for a major Republican win in the upcoming midterm elections, according to a security expert on Northeast Asia.
The projected results of the Nov. 8 elections are about to bring new challenges to Northeast Asia, where the U.S.-China rivalry is intensifying and North Korea is speeding up the development of its nuclear weapons despite international outcry. Recent polls show that the conservative U.S. party will take control of the House and possibly win the Senate as well.
“Many of the Republicans today are more isolationists and less internationalists than they used to be. That’s reflected most recently in signs that, if the Republicans retake the House, they are not going be so open to continue aid to Ukraine. No one is saying anything about our South Korea alliance, but it is certainly a trend in the wrong direction,” Joel Wit, founder of 38 North, a website devoted to analysis about North Korea, said at Wednesday’s forum hosted by The Korea Times. “If you look forward to the next presidential election, there is always a possibility that [former President] Donald Trump will come back and he’s not a big fan of our alliances overseas … Other Republican candidates may not as be as enthusiastic about American ties with overseas countries.” (…….)
Wit believes the denuclearization of North Korea is still possible through diplomacy, but only if the U.S. tries to achieve it from a long-term perspective.
“To put it simply, diplomacy with Pyongyang only has a chance of working with North Korea trying to move away from those countries (China and Russia). That’s been the case over the past 25 years. The problem is there is no sign of any interest on the part of North Korea,” he said.
The only way to encourage North Korea to move away from the two nations is to transform its relationship with the U.S. fundamentally so that North Korea sees it as more valuable and beneficial.
Korea Times
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