How the U.S. can break the diplomatic impasse with North Korea in 2019

Washington must show greater flexibility - and be prepared to offer "complementary measures"

Stephan Haggard January 3, 2019

How the U.S. can break the diplomatic impasse with North Korea in 2019

Image: Kevin Lim/THE STRAITS TIMES

It is hardly a stirring moniker, but 2019 is going to be the year of “complementary measures.” As followers of North Korea know, “complementary measures” is the term Pyongyang has adopted to describe the quid-pro-quos that the U.S. must extend in order to see progress in the nuclear domain.

The current jockeying over the sequence of summits (North-South or U.S.-North Korea) and the structure of negotiations (working-level, high-level, leaders’ meetings) in the end comes back to the central substantive issue: what are the two sides willing to offer to get to a deal?

About the Author

Stephan Haggard

Stephan Haggard is the Lawrence and Sallye Krause Professor of Korea-Pacific Studies, director of the Korea-Pacific Program, and distinguished professor of political science at UC San Diego. With Marcus Noland, he is the author of "Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements and the Case of North Korea" (Stanford University Press, 2017).

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