US President Donald Trump’s criticism of South Korea may have stoked fears among Asian allies, but his effort to reengage North Korea is a worthwhile one, several experts argued. A “maximalist negotiating position” pushing Pyongyang to denuclearize is now likely obsolete given the pariah state is effectively a nuclear-armed country, an analyst at the conservative Cato Institute argued, while Trump’s scaling back of joint exercises with Seoul represents “a minor unilateral concession” that the White House could now use to push for “incremental achievements.”
The timing is also key: “This window of opportunity closes when Trump leaves office,” three experts wrote in Foreign Policy. “The cost of trying is low. The potential cost of another decade of drift is not.”