Dr. Miyeon Oh, Director and Senior Fellow of the Asia Security Initiative at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, published an article, “Could Joe Biden Work With China to Denuclearize North Korea?”, for The National Interest. In the article, Oh discusses Joe Biden’s potential DPRK policy with the upcoming 59th quadrennial presidential election in November. She poses several key questions Biden’s team would have to consider in their approach to North Korea, including ultimate objectives regarding DPRK’s nuclear weapons program and strategy to address the issue. Ultimately, she suggests the shifts that have occurred in Asia’s geopolitical landscape since the Obama administration, including US-China competition and the increased importance of nuclear weapons for DPRK, will affect these decisions.
One clear thing is that the current geopolitical environment is a lot different from that of the Obama administration, even if Biden would consider “strategic patience” again to deal with U.S. adversaries. Certainly, how to deal with China is a top priority for Biden’s foreign policy, and his North Korea policy should be aligned with his China policy in order to implement a sustained, coordinated campaign for a denuclearized North Korea.
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