US can’t ignore North Korea between missile launches

Korean Americans are watching with growing alarm as the idea of bombing the Korean Peninsula is discussed at the highest levels of our government as an “option.”

We believe there are many options that, if engaged by our government and media now, could help lead us to a different outcome. Korean Americans have particular insight born of experience to lend to this endeavor and very personal reasons to fight for it. 

{mosads}President Trump was warned when he took office that North Korea would be our country’s most dangerous national security challenge. Despite the warning, the United States government is not doing the work necessary to prevent a dire escalation.

Last Tuesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the United States is “not interested in regime change” and would be willing to talk to North Korea. This is good to hear, but the details are slim: Under what conditions and timeline? Led by whom? 

And does the recent news that Pyongyang has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside missiles weaken our resolve to talk?  

The president has since said North Korea “will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.” 

The U.S. government should be considering more specific and serious investment in engaging North Korea. But just the opposite is happening. Deep cuts are proposed across the board at the State Department, causing a brain drain. There are almost no diplomatic staff at the department who speak and understand Korean, while key policy positions such as the role of special envoy for North Korea Human Rights remain vacant. There is no high-ranking official in the White House driving North Korea policy or fostering dialogue in any form.

We don’t even have a U.S. ambassador named to represent us in South Korea, a major ally with the most at stake in ensuring a peaceful Korean Peninsula.

James Clapper, former director of National Intelligence, suggested to open an “interest section” in Pyongyang — such as we had in Cuba — should be considered seriously. Even when we don’t recognize governments, having diplomatic representation in their countries allows us to gain critical insights. An interest section in Pyongyang also would help us connect North Korea to the outside world. 

The stakes warrant this much and more. Consider: the whole of the U.S. government was tasked with finding a diplomatic solution in Iran. By comparison, Iran was easier to solve. They have elections; North Korea does not. Iran has a middle class that would feel and speak to the pinch of sanctions; North Korea does not. Iran had laboratories and capacity to build nuclear weapons; North Korea has already built them. 

Our news and culture media also have a better role to play. In the view of most Korean Americans, the public discourse on North Korea and South Korea has been painfully uninformed. The history of the Korean peninsula, its geopolitical situation, and the culture of its people are seldom explored. It’s as if today’s threats sprang from nowhere. 

The North Korean regime is discussed and dismissed as “crazy” and “erratic,” and the people who live under the regime are seen as aliens “over there.” They are recognizable only as caricatures, which moves us even further away from mutual understanding.

Our government and our news and culture media could — and should — leverage the knowledge, experience and deep cultural understanding of Korean Americans to bridge the divide between the United States and North Korea. 

Many of us understand how North Koreans think, feel and see the world. We share a common language and history. Every Korean American has a connection through family or friends to someone living under threat on the Korean peninsula. And many Korean Americans are actively engaged in providing humanitarian assistance to people living under the North Korean regime.

Unfortunately, the U.S. government has made no attempt to reach out to Korean Americans for help. Nor has the mainstream media reached out to our community. Public affairs programs are populated by issue experts, some of whom may be Asian Americans, but we do not hear or see our perspective on the nightly news.

We want to engage. 

It is no wonder Washington only pays attention to North Korea when they launch a missile. The problem is that no one is working on the situation in between missile launches.

Until dialogue and engagement have been given sufficient resources to succeed, no military “option” is acceptable.

Sam Yoon is the executive director of the Council of Korean Americans, a nonprofit organization of Korean American professionals committed to increasing the participation of Korean Americans in our public discourse. 

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.