A Peace Deferred: U.S. National Interest in a Korean Peace Process

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although rarely discussed in policy circles, a peace process for the Korean Peninsula would significantly advance U.S. national interests in Northeast Asia and is the most realistic route to denuclearization. The United States could initiate and sustain a peace process by taking peace-building steps, entering into peace treaty negotiations, and committing to peace regime maintenance. Immediate actions include opening channels with Pyongyang and, coordinated with Seoul in line with President Park Geun-hye's “trustpolitik” approach, seeking a variety of civil and military confidence-building measures on the peninsula. Building on the Kim Jong-un regime's focus on economic development, and phasing in gradual denuclearization, the peace process is a slow march and hard slog, but it is more realistic than the current sanctions-based policy or the wishful thinking of North Korean collapse. However, the political costs are high, and therefore only far-sighted presidential leadership and strategic commit...