South Korean Elections Sidestep Rising Peninsula Tensions
Why have tensions risen on the Korean Peninsula this year?
Tensions are driven higher, as ever, by the North Korean nuclear and missile programs and evidence suggesting that Pyongyang is making notable progress toward deployment. However, this year there have been additional complicating factors.
Since the Trump administration took office, a number of U.S. officials, including Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, have declared emphatically that the previous Obama administration policy of “strategic patience” is dead. This has been replaced by a firm rhetorical commitment to resolve the “North Korea problem” during the Trump term, and at times it has seemed as if there could be a willingness to use force to achieve this goal.… Seguir leyendo »