Advice for the U.S.’Korean Strategy.doc

Advice for the U.S.’Korean Strategy 　　U.S. President Donald Trump has shown his iron-fist stance toward Pyongyang for the fi rst time since taking power. The Trump administration has sent an American aircraft carrier， the USS Carl Vinson， to “provide a persistent presence in the waters off the Korean Peninsula，” according to an announcement by the U.S. Navy on April 20. Against the backdrop of the recent U.S. air strike on a Syrian Government military airfield and the U.S. bombardment of socalled “Islamic State” extremist hideouts in Afghanistan with the “mother of all bombs，”some analysts perceive confl ict on the horizon of the Korean Peninsula. Nonetheless， a number of pundits werent surprised to see a decrease in overall tensions despite Pyongyang’s display of its new intercontinental ballistic missile during its Day of the Sun holiday celebrations on April 15. Since North Korea conducted its latest nuclear tests in 2016， the development of its nuclear weapons program has shown clear signs of acceleration. Consequently， its next nuclear test may be imminent. U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies say that North Korea has made advanced preparations for a new nuclear test. If Washington and Seoul are not to blame for having wrong intelligence， one may assume that the test has been postponed， because the latest meeting between Chinese and U.S. heads of states may have helped change the situation. Pyongyangs dilemma After the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart， it seems that the U.S. policy toward Pyongyang has changed. On the one hand， Washington has continued its policy of pressuring Pyongyang militarily. On the other hand， the United States has claimed that as long as North Korea stops its nuclear weapons tests and ballistic missile launches， it is willing to have talks with Pyongyang and will not seek regime change in the country. That is a big shift from former U.S. President Barack Obama’s policies.