June 09, 2023
News

New US national security plan makes little mention of North Korea issues

Expert says lack of attention reflects pessimism about denuclearization, despite US pledge of ‘sustained diplomacy’

The U.S. will pursue “sustained diplomacy” with North Korea while simultaneously bolstering deterrence against Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats, the White House said Wednesday in the first national security strategy of the Biden administration.

But the strategy document, which each U.S. administration is required to produce, otherwise makes very little mention of the DPRK in its 48 pages, instead focusing much of its attention on “outcompeting China and constraining Russia” in what one expert says is the latest example of Washington deprioritizing North Korea issues.