Recently, North Korea has restarted testing long-range missiles. Of course, this is not new for North Korea, which has been repeatedly testing missiles, medium and long-range missiles, along with vitriolic threats, for years creating tensions with South Korea, the United States and Japan. No doubt, every country ideally deserves the right to ensure its security and the development of weapons needed for its security, but it turns out to be a cause of concern for other countries when it poses security threats. More importantly, no significant efforts, except some direct talks, have so far been made to resolve contentious issues between North Korea and South Korea and its allies, especially the United States and reduce tensions.
Of course, relations between the United States and North Korea and between South Korea and North Korea are troublesome for a long time for several reasons including North Korea’s tests of missiles and underground nuclear tests, security threats to USA and its allies, sanctions over the DPRK, military drills by the USA and South Korea, non-recognition of the 1953 Korean War Armistice, human rights situations in North Korea and vitriolic threats. Even if there are sometimes relatively good situations in the Korean region, the relations often deteriorate with a higher possibility of military confrontation. A few years back, North Korea and the USA were about to get engaged in a dangerous war. While North Korea threatened to attack on the mainland United States, the latter threatened to erase the map of the former and had flown two nuclear-capable fighters over the former.
Notably, the antagonistic relationship between South and North Korea, which was a unified country before the invasion of Japan in 1910 and the division of Korea as North and South by Russia and the USA after World War II, and between the USA and North Korea is not new. Their relations decisively started to be antagonistic since the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 in which the United States, along with some other countries, took the side of South Korea under the mandate of the United Nations. Since then, their antagonistic relations have been continuing with the USA’s imposition of sanctions on North Korea, vitriolic threats of North Korea over the United States and South Korea, where there are military forces of the USA, and some other conflicting developments.
But the important issue is whether tensions can be reduced, or situations can be improved, between the parties at all. Of course, the possibility of the reduction of tensions remains, but it is difficult to reach a complete resolution because of the complicated nature of the antagonistic relations. While the United States is concerned about several issues including the tests of missiles and human rights situations, North Korea is concerned with sanctions, which affected its economy immensely, imposed upon it by the USA and others. Of course, it is not very difficult to reduce tensions to the extent that can help to improve regional security, but it mainly depends on the approaches and intentions of the countries and whether the parties address the causes of tensions.
Of course, continued diplomatic talks can be an effective means to help address various contentious issues and improve situations between/among the parties. Notably, relations improved somewhat a few years ago when the United States and North Korea, which do not have any diplomatic relations, carried out historic diplomatic talks in South Korea. No doubt, the talks helped in reducing tension between the countries. The latter reduced its tests of missiles significantly for months and, moreover, the talks led to diplomatic talks between South Korea and North Korea several times, indicating a possibility of a remarkable improvement of the situation. But the talks not only were discontinued but also failed to address the causes of the tensions between the parties.
Though earlier efforts failed, it is desired that diplomatic talks are resumed and continued by the parties to resolve conflicting issues including security threats and economic sanctions, reduce tensions and improve the situation of the peninsula. No doubt, effective diplomacy can lead to a win-win situation for all the parties. While diplomacy can reduce security threats to South Korea, Japan and the USA in the region, it can lead to an improved economic situation for North Korea.
