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Less than a month after Joe Biden’s inauguration, questions have been raised about how the next US president will approach relations with North Korea. Talking to Express.co.ukHarry Kazianis, senior director for Korean studies at the Center of National Interest, said Biden “has a major problem on his hands.”
He added: “North Korea is a full-fledged nuclear weapons state and will never surrender those weapons before a war in which millions of people will die.
“At the same time, admitting that you can’t get them to hand over their nuclear weapons is not something any president of the United States will admit.”
Kazianis explained that Biden should try to create an arms control agreement in which some sanctions are removed in exchange for a limit to the total size of Kim Jong-un’s nuclear weapons along with the North Korean leader’s promise not to expand.
He added: “That could be the basis of an agreement in which each party slowly negotiates concession after concession overtime until a normalized relationship is established.
“At this point, although it is not denuclearization, I think it is something that Americans can live with.”
North Korea has continued to increase its nuclear arsenal this year.
In October, Kim unveiled a never-before-seen long-range ballistic missile that experts have warned has the potential to reach the United States.
The North Korean leader attended the military parade in Pyongyang that marked the 75th anniversary of the Workers’ Party, where the huge missile was unveiled.
READ MORE: Donald Trump ‘squandered’ opportunity to end North Korea’s nuclear program
He said: “If Biden walks out the door with a tough stance on North Korea, I think Pyongyang will do what it has always done when faced with a challenge: respond with more pressure and up the ante.
“Biden could very well try to get China to join a Maximum Pressure 2.0 strategy in which Beijing applies sanctions rather than allowing the Kim regime a lot of room for maneuver.
“If that happened, North Korea would attack in every way possible, probably by testing its new ICBM Hwasong-16, the largest mobile road missile on the planet.”
However, Kazianis highlighted how, unless North Korea tests a nuclear weapon or intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Kim is unlikely to be a priority for Biden, as he has other issues to address, including the coronavirus pandemic. and the economic recovery of the United States.
He added that the chances of a major diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and North Korea are low because Mr. Biden “has many other bigger challenges to face.”
The United States is the country most affected by the coronavirus in the world with the highest mortality rates and the number of COVID-19 cases.
According to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, the US has recorded more than 18 million cases of COVID-19.
Kazianis said: “COVID-19 is a kind of crisis that occurs once in a hundred years and cannot be ignored, as Donald Trump learned the hard way.
“Biden must put all his energy into mitigating that threat and the economic damage it has caused.
“The only question now is how will North Korea respond to not being a US priority for the foreseeable future? Not very good, if history is any guide. “
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