JOY ELLEN YOON — Military Deterrence Destabilizes Diplomacy

April 25, 2023 marked the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-ROK Alliance, an alliance that was established to support democracy in Korea. To commemorate this alliance, President Biden of the United States and President Yoon of the Republic of Korea (ROK) committed to engage in deeper, cooperative decision-making to strengthen nuclear deterrence on the Korean Peninsula. President Biden promised to enhance strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula by an upcoming visit of a U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarine to ROK.

Ironically, although the purpose of this nuclear submarine’s visit is stated to be for nuclear deterrence, its presence actually serves to further destabilize the region. Deployment of such a weapon of war will most likely be interpreted by North Korea as military aggression. Tensions between North and South Korea are likely to escalate and a similar military response in the DPRK may result.

North Korea’s justification for the development of nuclear weapons and their subsequent missile tests is to protect themselves from a U.S. attack. Every time the U.S. and ROK conduct joint military exercises on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea responds with more missile testing. In 2022, North Korea expanded its nuclear capabilities by testing more than 90 missile tests. U.S.-ROK joint military exercises is not the solution for military deterrence, but unfortunately the most recent joint military exercises which took place in March 2023 were the largest joint field exercises in the past five years.

Militarization and conflict are rising throughout Northeast Asia. Not only is Russia actively engaged in conflict, but the U.S. and China are in an economic war. As a result, the United States is already trying to degrade Chinese military capacity. Militarization is already pushing the balance of peace, and further escalation in Northeast Asia may tip the scales towards conflict, a conflict that could involve multiple nuclear superpowers.

As Colleen Moore with Women Cross DMZ stated, “The only way to make progress on denuclearization is through a diplomatic approach.” Many seem to have given up on diplomacy with North Korea. Indeed, there is a severe lack of trust between North Korea and the U.S. But true diplomacy involves talking and talking again until a mutual resolution can be found. It may take several failed attempts, many years of discourse, and returning back to the drawing board in order to find a resolution throughout the process. The key is to keep talking, to believe in diplomacy, and to never give up.

North Korea’s main reason for distrusting the United States is rooted in its trauma from the Korean War. The Korean War resulted in at least 1.2 million North Korean civilian casualties. North Korea lost at least 20% of its population from the war.

Recent summits between the U.S. and North Korea led to even further distrust. Following the Singapore Summit in 2018, North Korea declared an end to their nuclear program and returned U.S. soldier remains. Prior to the summit on May 9th, North Korea had also released all three U.S. detainees. Yet, the United States failed to follow through with any of their promises. Instead, sanctions were strictly enforced with a maximum pressure policy put in place.

Using military tactics and pressure can only deter nuclear war for so long. Instead, a new diplomatic approach needs to be implemented in order to move the discourse away from nuclear weapons.

Congressman Brad Sherman Introducing the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act

If the Biden administration is serious about peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, they should put action to their diplomatic offers. U.S. lawmakers already have this opportunity. They can support a peace-first approach by endorsing the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act. H.R. 1369 and formally end the Korean War. In addition, to thaw tensions, the Geographic Travel Ban (GTR) to North Korea should be lifted, once again allowing people-to-people exchanges. If the State Department lifted the travel ban, North Korea would get a clear message that the U.S. is willing to re-engage in diplomacy and pivot the discourse towards peace.