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| July 13, 2000 | atimes.com | ||
|  | The Koreas It's time to tear down the wall with North Korea By Alistair Millar* WASHINGTON - On the heels of an unprecedented summit meeting between North and South Korea, it appears that Cold War tensions may finally be thawing on the Korean peninsula. The White House announcement that the United States will ease some of its Korean War-era economic sanctions against the North could pave the way for investments and trade of a wide range of goods and services. Such a change in policy by Washington could play a key role in reducing more than 50 years of tension, which, in turn, would vastly improve Asian and global security. It seems that President Clinton has finally decided to listen to the recommendations of his former secretary of defense, William Perry. After several visits to the region and a careful assessment of the situation, Perry has called for a strategy of engagement by the United States, together with South Korea and Japan. The goal would be to "normalize relations with North Korea, relax sanctions that have long constrained trade with North Korea, and take other positive steps that would provide opportunities for North Korea". In return, Pyongyang would commit in writing to "complete and verifiable assurances" that North Korea has ended its nuclear-weapons program; the "complete and verifiable cessation of testing, production and deployment" of medium and long-range missiles; and a halt to missile exports. In other words, successful negotiations with the United States and its allies would mean the end of the weapons proliferation threat from North Korea. Perry's strategy of engagement is working. Pyongyang has provided ample evidence over the past six years that it is willing to keep its end of the deal if the United States and its allies do the same. For example, last September North Korea suspended its missile-testing program in return for Washington's promise that it would ease US-imposed sanctions. And North Korea has kept its word. Although in the past North Korea had taken a number of provocative steps, such as the 1998 missile tests over Japan, those steps were not meant to gain military advantage but rather to provoke a diplomatic reaction from the United States, Japan and South Korea. North Korea has not undertaken the extensive testing required for developing and deploying an effective and reliable long-range missile. Instead, it has used tests and threats of withdrawal from international treaties to pressure the West into diplomatic engagement. Successful negotiations with the United States and its allies could end those provocations and lay the foundation for normalized relations. But despite these positive signs, the United States has remained hell-bent on flexing its military muscle. Political leaders in Washington have cited North Korea as one of the prime reasons to justify the development and deployment of a costly and unproven National Missile Defense program. According to Senator Dick Durbin, D-IL, proponents of national missile defense have chosen North Korea as the "enemy du jour". Eliminating threats by reducing tensions is a more effective method of protecting US security than building an untested and provocative missile defense system. Russia's newly elected President Vladimir Putin is convinced of this approach and has planned an unprecedented visit to North Korea this month to support efforts to reconcile the two Koreas. Unfortunately, the Clinton Administration is not taking full advantage of the historic opportunity to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and reduce the threat of weapons proliferation in the region. Now is the time to eliminate US sanctions against North Korea and to begin withdrawing the 37,000 troops that the US still maintains on the peninsula. The presence of American business people and diplomats in North Korea would do more for US security than maintaining sanctions and tens of thousands of soldiers. And opening diplomatic and political relations with North Korea will do more for US security than spending ten of billions of dollars on an unnecessary missile defense system. *Alistair Millar is the vice-president of the Fourth Freedom Forum, an independent research organization. (This article was distributed by The Global Beat Syndicate, a service of New York University's Center for War, Peace, and the News Media. (c) 2000 New York University. All Rights Reserved. For more information on Global Beat, check out http://www.nyu.edu/globalbeat) | |||||||||
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