RELEASE: Responding to the Korean Peninsula Crisis
Winny Chen, Manager of China Studies for the National Security and International Policy Team at American Progress, Argues That the United States Must Hold North Korea Accountable for Its Aggression
South Korea stated its intention to take its case to the U.N. Security Council. The United States should unequivocally support further sanctions and work to persuade other members, particularly China, to back the resolution. It should also seriously consider putting North Korea back on the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism list—a move that is justified by events in the last two years and would provide more sticks to deal with the DPRK. South Korea is also justified in taking steps to protect itself from further attack absent a forceful showing by the United Nations, and the United States will support its ally in those efforts.
China’s interests on the peninsula are complex, but the argument for China supporting sanctions would be persuasive: North Korea has once again engaged in provocative acts that threaten East Asian peace and stability right on China’s doorstep. The international community will not let these acts go unpunished, and from the Chinese point of view, strong action through the United Nations, where it has a voice, is the preferred course.
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