In Our View: N. Korea Needs Deft Response

The growing threat represented by North Korea’s nuclear program is not one to be taken lightly and not one that can be handled through a Twitter response. And while numerous international concerns face the nascent Trump presidency, the issue of North Korea and its unpredictable leader, Kim Jong Un, is particularly relevant to the Northwest.

Seattle is the closest major U.S. city to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, a fact that lends heightened awareness to events in the world’s most reclusive nation. So, when North Korea tests a new midrange missile using solid-state fuel, as it did last week, we would be wise to pay attention — and to hope that President Trump is, as well.

In January, Trump responded to the rogue nation’s nuclear ambitions by tweeting, “North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won’t happen!” Such bombast might make for good headlines, but it doesn’t make for good diplomacy.

Therefore, it is encouraging that Trump allowed North Korea’s most recent missile test to pass without a cowboy-esque response. It also is encouraging that he acknowledged that the nation is a “big, big problem,” while reaffirming the United States’ valuable alliance with Japan.

Last year, former CIA director Michael Hayden predicted that North Korea would have the capability within four years to hit the United States with a ballistic missile. Practice makes perfect, and the North Koreans continue to practice and perfect their missile system out of an apparent desire to become a major player on the world stage. Having a mercurial, nuclear-armed leader presents a global threat, and it is a threat that calls for diplomacy rather than bluster.

It also calls for hope that Trump will, indeed, grow into his job as president. Diplomacy, to this point, has not been his strong suit, nor has his unnuanced approach to North Korea. During the campaign, he suggested that Japan and South Korea should have nuclear arms, a recommendation that would only heighten tensions in that part of the world. Trump also has intimated that he could bully China into solving the North Korea problem — another suggestion lacking in the subtlety that is necessary for touchy international issues.

As Scott Snyder, a North Korea expert who sits on the Council of Foreign Relations, said: “There’s not an easy way out of this. There’s no point to trade threats with Kim Jong Un.” There is, however, a point to strengthening ties with Japan and South Korea, longtime allies of the United States and neighbors to North Korea. There is, as well, a point to engaging with China and gently enticing that nation to acknowledge the threat posed by North Korea.

Two recent studies — one by the Council on Foreign Relations, and one by the Asia Society and the University of California at San Diego — have recommended sanctions against North Korea and the deployment of missile defenses in South Korea. They also have recommended incentives for enticing Kim Jong Un to ease off his nation’s nuclear program. Clearly, any solution will be delicate and complex, with the issue representing a stern test for a president who sold himself as a negotiator and a deal-maker.

Trump also sold himself as an isolationist, one who will focus on America first. We hope that, as president, he is learning that putting America first requires the subtlety of bargaining and diplomacy.