North Korea Is a Nuclear Weapons State. Here’s What America Should Do About It

Is It Time for a Peace Treaty on the Korean Peninsula?: North Korea is a nuclear power with an excellent ballistic missile program. Nothing is going to change that. No amount of financial sanctions, diplomatic haranguing, or military threats will help. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s mercurial leader, Kim Jong-un is wholly invested in nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles that can be launched from the ground or submarines. The DPRK has even tested hypersonic weapons. The North boasts of having intermediate-range and long-range nuclear missiles. The Hwasong-15 ICBM could put all of the continental United States in its sights.

Give Peace a Chance in Korea

It is time for the international community to face facts, treat North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power, and deal with it on equal terms.

This means first engaging in a peace treaty with the DPRK, the Americans, and the South Koreans. The original Korean War with the United States never had a peace treaty – only a cease-fire and armistice. The DPRK is convinced that the United States and South Korea will invade it, depose Kim Jong-un, and remake the North into a capitalist, democratic country.

Counting Dead Americans

It is difficult, if not impossible, to convince Kim that the Americans and South Koreans will never invade. The North Koreans are entirely anti-American. As Korean expert Victor Cha recounts in his book The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future, North Korean school children learn arithmetic by counting “dead Americans.”

Congressional Efforts for Peace

But some American lawmakers in Congress still hold out hope for a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula. Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) is pushing his bill called the “Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act” (HR 1369) that has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. It has several bipartisan supporters in the House.

One stipulation of the bill is that the “U.S. State Department must also report to Congress a clear roadmap for achieving permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

There Is a New Way Forward

This is quite a heady goal, written vaguely to give the next American president latitude in developing a peace process.

I have my own peace plan, which I describe in my new book, that could possibly re-unite the South and North one day.

Is This a Dream or a Nightmare?

Admittedly, this peace plan of mine is transactional and aspirational. It requires a leap of faith in strategic and diplomatic thinking. So, hold on to your seats. You may think it highly imaginative and even naïve, but it is a place to start.

Stop the Joint Training Exercises

First, I want to end all joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea. Kim Jong-un and the North Koreans hate these drills between the two militaries. I served near the Korean DMZ in the U.S. Army, and I can assure you that both the Americans and the South Koreans are simply a group of over-trained pit bulls. Joint exercises are not needed. Both sides do well training on their own. Canceling these drills would help show Kim Jong-un that we have no intention of invading.

A Small Number of American Soldiers Need to Be Sent Home

Second, I want to send some American troops home. Yes, this is unpalatable to some, and President Jimmy Carter threatened to do so while president, and it was an unpopular proposal. The United States already has plenty of troops in South Korea. Camp Humphreys, the main military installation in the Republic of Korea, is 40 miles south of Seoul. It has 40,000 people and around 28,500 military personnel including elements of the U.S. Army Second Infantry Division and the headquarters of the Eighth U.S. Army. It is the largest American overseas base in the world.

There are many combat support and combat service support troops in that garrison. I do not want to reduce the number of Armored Brigade Combat Team personnel – the front-line troops that would fight the war – but I do call for reducing the number of rear-echelon personnel. It is time to reduce these forces by at least 1,000 troops. Have them pack up and go home. Show this troop reduction live on a news feed to Pyongyang and let Kim Jong-un see that the United States is serious about peace.

North Korea Must Play Ball

These two military stipulations come with a price. Before a peace treaty can be signed, The North Koreans must accept arms inspectors into the country to inspect the DPRK’s nuclear missile program. Kim Jong-un must also agree to freeze all missile tests. He would also have to curtail human rights abuses and stop murdering his citizens.

Bring Out the Skeptics

I know what you are saying. This would never work because you cannot trust Kim Jong-un. Former President Donald Trump found this out the hard way. But my peace plan, if successful, would allow Trump or Kamala Harris to win the Nobel Prize if it could be enacted.

Can You Trust Kim Jong-un?

Kim is the biggest obstacle. He is a lying, murderous scoundrel who routinely starves and kills his people. He would probably cheat on any deal. But it is time to take a new approach and enact the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act. Sanctions and jawboning do not work. The status quo is terrible. Multi-national military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States are not needed, and the Department of Defense could easily send some American troops home. This would go a long way to show the DPRK that there are no chances of an invasion and no plans to execute regime change against Kim. This potential state of affairs could lead to a lasting peace on the peninsula and even re-unification someday.

About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare, plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.