Engaging North Korea: A Principled and Prudent Liberal Strategy

As nations return to post-pandemic normality, so have ballistic missile tests from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea. There were a record 90 missiles in 2022 (including one that flew over Japan on October 4), and on March 17, 2023, its most powerful-ever, a Hwasong-17 ICBM, capable of flying over the continental United States. 

On March 24, 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol declared that Pyongyang will “pay a price for its reckless provocations,” while commemorating the 55 South Koreans killed in the West Sea. 

Among liberal democracies, the prevailing response to North Korea’s “reckless provocations” is enhanced sanctions to pressure the regime to abandon its nuclear weapons program. In 2017, I argued that such a hard-line strategy would not persuade the DPRK regime. Rather, it has reinforced the voices of conservative party and…



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