What does the DPRK want? That is the fundamental question some people are now asking in looking for a solution to the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
US Vice President Mike Pence warned Pyongyang not to test the strength and resolve of America’s military. Pence delivered that message from Seoul during the first leg of his Asia tour to assure allies of US support in the region.
US Vice President Mike Pence shakes hands with commander General Vincent K. Brooks during an Easter fellowship dinner at a military base in Seoul, the ROK, on April 16, 2017. /CFP Photo
But is looking towards the military the best way to bring peace and stability to the region, or should we be asking why is the DPRK conducting military tests and what would they want to in exchange to halt them?
DPRK shows off its missiles at a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2017. /CFP Photo
A panel to discuss the situation in Korean Peninsula and what can be done.
Douglas Paal is Vice President for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former US diplomat.
When asked about what the DPRK wants, Doug Paal said a Peace Treaty is among the things they want. The DPRK has an extended list of what they want, from Japan, from the ROK, things like peace treaty, aid, re-compensation for the war, and so forth, which are politically impossible.
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But he thinks a smart move for US administration would be to have a coalition effort: multiple nations around the DPRK, trying to put on the table all the things that the DRPK wants, in exchange for it giving up those nuclear programs.
Doug said he doubt very much that the DPRK would take it. But he believes if you want to hold a coalition together to go for sanctions, you should at least start with a major peace effort.
We have a problem in the new administration in Washington, which is there are just military personnel rather than diplomats at the top, so we might make some mistakes and experimentations before we get to that outcome.
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