The best Korea strategy for the US is to let others take the lead

Moreover, the North would never strike: Kim Jong-il wants his virgins in today’s life, not the afterlife.

PROLIFERATION

More worrisome is the prospect of proliferation, but Pyongyang could hardly be a greater problem in this regard than the US’ has-been ally, Pakistan. Washington should make clear to the North that sales to non-state actors would be a casus belli: No amount of money received would be worth the resulting risk, especially since engagement would create increased financial opportunities elsewhere.

To encourage China to take a more active role, the Obama administration should share its nightmare. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should have a private chat with Beijing, indicating that if the North builds a nuclear arsenal, the US is not inclined to remain in the middle, maintaining a nuclear umbrella over Pyongyang’s neighbors.

While Washington might not affirmatively favor a decision by South Korea and Japan to exercise the nuclear option, the US would not likely prevent them from doing so. Thus it really would be in China’s interests to help halt the North Korean nuclear program. The goal, of course, would not be to encourage proliferation, but to use the threat of proliferation to help roll back the program.

North Korea is a problem likely to be long with us. The Obama administration should recognize the limitations inherent in any policy toward the North. Washington should let Pyongyang’s neighbors take the lead in dealing with North Korea.

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and was a special assistant to US president Ronald Reagan.