Biden administration to fully review North Korea approach: Blinken
- Antony Blinken, Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, said ‘the entire approach and policy toward North Korea’ will be reviewed
- While the US will increase pressure on Kim Jong-un to denuclearise, it will also look at providing humanitarian aid if needed
“We do want to make sure that in anything we do, we have an eye on the humanitarian side of the equation, not just on the security side of the equation,” he told his Senate confirmation hearing.
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Democratic Senator Ed Markey asked whether he would support a “phased agreement” that offered tailored sanctions relief to Pyongyang in return for a verifiable freeze in its weapons programmes, with the ultimate aim of North Korea denuclearising.
“I think we have to review, and we intend to review, the entire approach and policy toward North Korea, because this is a hard problem that has plagued administration after administration. And it’s a problem that has not gotten better – in fact, it’s gotten worse,” Blinken replied.
He said the aim of the review would be to “look at what options we have, and what can be effective in terms of increasing pressure on North Korea to come to the negotiating table, as well as what other diplomatic initiatives may be possible”.
Blinken said this would start with consulting closely with allies and partners, particularly with South Korea and Japan.
Biden’s senior official for Asia policy, Kurt Campbell, has said the administration would have to make an early decision on its approach and not repeat the Obama-era delay that led to “provocative” steps by Pyongyang that prevented engagement.
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Campbell had some praise for outgoing President Donald Trump’s unprecedented summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, even though no progress was made in persuading Kim to give up his nuclear weapons.
Last week, Kim called for more advanced nuclear weapons and called the United States “our biggest enemy”, underlining the challenge to Biden, who takes office on Wednesday.
“We do have a big task ahead of us in restoring, revitalising those relationships. I do think it starts … with showing up again,” said Blinken. “Some of our allies and partners question the sustainability of our commitments based on the past few years and that’s going to be a hard hill to climb.”
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Blinken, 58, a veteran foreign policy hand and close Biden confidant, said he believed US leadership was vital, but should also benefit those at home.
“If we want to have [American people’s] support for American leadership, American engagement in the world, we have to demonstrate that it is actually making an improvement in their lives or preventing something,” he said.
