Stop Chasing the Fantasy of North Korean Disarmament

The denuclearization goal of U.S. and allied North Korea policy has been an impossible one for more than fifteen years.

North Korea is still not interested in bartering away its nuclear arsenal:

North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Friday South Korea's president should "shut his mouth" after he reiterated that his country was willing to provide economic aid in return for nuclear disarmament.

Her comments mark the first time a senior North Korean official has commented directly on what South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has called an "audacious" plan - first proposed in May and which he talked about again on Wednesday at a news conference to mark his first 100 days in office.

North Korea’s determination to retain its nuclear arsenal is easy to understand, so it is discouraging that so many policymakers in Seoul and Washington seem equally determined not to understand it. There are no benefits and no promises that the U.S. and South Korean governments could offer that would make North Korea want to give up a nuclear deterrent that they believe is of vital importance. There are no punishments or inducements that would cause them to capitulate to the far-reaching and maximalist demand to disarm. It is not a question of finding the right incentives. The denuclearization goal of U.S. and allied North Korea policy has been an impossible one for more than fifteen years.