OPINION:
Old habits die hard, and North Korea has once again greeted new American leadership with the rattling of the saber. Rather than allow the unsettling sound to reverberate unanswered, a more productive course would be to reaffirm progress toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula made during the previous administration, and to ask the North to do the same.
During President Biden’s brief tenure, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has already ignored a perfunctory entreaty for the resumption of diplomatic contacts, and Mr. Kim’s powerful sister has blistered the air with rebuke of routine U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Together they have assuredly watched with satisfaction while their Chinese diplomatic allies administered a verbal spanking to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during recent introductory discussions in Alaska.
More ominously, the North Korean dictator has drawn international concern by firing short-range missiles into the western sea, followed by the launch of what defense analysts believe were two advanced ballistic missiles. Mr. Biden’s response was to point out, half-heartedly, that the tests violated a United Nations resolution but, in effect, so what?
It was less than two years ago that President Trump arrived at the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas and took an unprecedented step over the demarcation line to greet North Korea’s young ruler. The act triggered a glimmer of hope that negotiations faltering over the North’s demand for economic sanctions relief would resume. Relentless domestic attacks on Mr. Trump’s legitimacy brought dual impeachments and, with U.S. regime change in the wind, Mr. Kim lost interest.
Mr. Biden’s difficulty with the stairs leading up to Air Force One means he is unlikely to match his predecessor’s enthusiasm for rendezvousing with formidable adversaries anytime, anywhere. In the case of North Korea, though, he has the option of dusting off the Trump achievements of recent years and reaffirming shared goals.
In 2018, Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim signed a joint statement in Singapore establishing “relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity,” affirming efforts to build peace on the Korean Peninsula, pledging cooperation in the return of POW/MIA remains and, most critically, reinforcing North Korea’s commitment to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Nothing has transpired in the intervening years — except neglect. Setting pen to paper, Mr. Biden should launch a message to his North Korean counterpart reaffirming American devotion to those honorable goals and requesting that he do likewise.
There is no naivete in Mr. Biden opting to build upon his predecessor’s work and championing a series of verifiable measures that step down U.S. economic sanctions and North Korean nuclear activity in unison.
The armistice that unofficially ended the Korean War will turn 70 in July 2023. Even if enmity from that long-ago conflict lingers like a bad habit, it’s worth testing whether “time heals all wounds.”
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