Michael Vadon via Wikipedia

Put Our President and North Korea’s Kim in a Room Together

Nothing else is working.

The shortest path to reducing the tensions on and around the Korean Peninsula may be a direct meeting between the president of the United States and North Korea’s dictator.

Nothing else has worked. A military solution, while always in our quiver, must be our last resort; even a conventional war would kill millions of people as South Korea and Japan are well within range of Kim Jong-Un’s missiles.

The direct approach I propose would violate diplomatic norms, protocol and longstanding policy.  Some observers may point out that North Korea’s leader is a vicious dictator and we don’t talk to extortionists. Others will call it inappropriate; others, dangerous. Indeed, it is a path that risks miscalculation or a misstatement that could seriously aggravate the situation. All would be correct. But nothing else is working. We should remember that we engaged butchers like Stalin and Mao for years, when we needed to. This is not weakness, it is simply pure realpolitik.

The North Korean boy-dictator’s desire to be recognized and accepted in the bigger world has been brewing since his boarding school days in Switzerland. The depth of his insecurities is impossible to ignore. Look how he enthusiastically reacted to the eccentric NBA star’s Denis Rodman visits to Pyongyang. Mull North Korea’s retaliatory cyberattack on Sony for releasing “The Interview,” 2014’s thinly-veiled lampooning of Kim Jong-Un. Consider Kim’s deep distrust of his own inner circle; his paranoid mind likely sees a plot hatching behind every pagoda. Put simply, secure people don’t kill their relatives and publicly blow defense ministers apart while they’re tied to anti-aircraft guns.

A face-to-face meeting does not mean agreement or harmony. Nor should it confer an iota of recognition on North Korea as a nuclear power. And it wouldn’t mean curtailing regional exercises such as Ulchi-Freedom Guardian or lifting sanctions against North Korea. It would simply be a forum for the two leaders to express their views and concerns. Dialogue might establish something that is missing: a rudimentary relationship that ideally would expand over time to key subordinates and involve regional players from which a faint chance of some collective “problem-resolving” could emerge. Even a prickly relationship, peppered with distrust, would be a far cry better than where we are right now.

A face-to-face meeting is also an opportunity to knit together regional states that have skin in the game. In the first meeting, the U.S. would probably have to go it alone, but only after close consultation with blood ally Seoul, allied Japan, others in the region, and the United Nations. It is almost certain that Kim would not travel to places like Guam, Seoul, or Tokyo. Perhaps such a meeting could be held in Putin’s Far East or Xi’s Manchuria.

Related: Defense One's North Korea coverage

Besides developing an “understanding” between our two countries, this likely would be the only way to directly engage the North Korean dictator on the folly of further fielding a nuclear-tipped ICBM. Better for him to hear the caution delivered in an eyeball-to-eyeball meeting than via an official communique.

Such a meeting could also be a chance to reduce Kim’s paranoia about the outside world’s desire for regime change. To that end, all public discussions about regime change should stop now. They only agitate an easily-rattled, weapons-bristling North Korea that—even without nukes—can blow Seoul off the map. Talk of removing Kim also pits us diplomatically against China and Russia, both of whom are concerned about a major refugee influx, but more strategically, abhor the thought of a U.S.-backed South Korea filling the territorial vacuum of a fallen Pyongyang regime.

North Korea is akin to a poisonous snake. Our global collective could easily crush it, but all it would take is one venom-filled bite during its death throes to badly hurt us.

Our President, despite the compelling reasons noted earlier in this essay, should offer to meet with the North Korean dictator. Perhaps the Chinese, feeling much pressure themselves, could “encourage” Kim to do this. The stakes are too high, too potentially violent and bloody not to give it a try. If Kim says no and rejects his best chance for survival, so be it, we took the high ground and the situation will have become even more starkly clear.

Our internal political division also needs to be parked for this looming crisis. The North Koreans just tested a massive nuclear bomb and threaten to launch more destabilizing long-range missiles. Every measure should first be taken short of military action to arrest this potential madness. Of course, our armed forces must be razor-wire ready if a worse case transpires. In the end, other than sweeping aside diplomatic protocol, what’s the risk of offering a meeting, compared to the growing prospect of a grisly regional conflict — non-nuclear that could include hideous chemical or biological munitions, or even worse, explosively nuclear —where millions of innocents would surely die?

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.