Harry Harris

Inserted 1 year ago

“The U.S. intelligence community assesses that KJU [Kim Jong-un] views nuclear weapons as the ultimate deterrent against foreign intervention. KJU declared last year that he would be willing to employ nukes more broadly in wartime, and last September, he stated unequivocally that he would never give up his nukes and the North Korea's status as a nuclear weapons state is irreversible. We must not relax sanctions or reduce joint military exercises just to get North Korea to come to the negotiating table. This is a fool's error. While we hope for diplomacy with North Korea to be successful, we must recognize that hope alone is not a course of action. The quest for dialogue with the North must never be made at the expense of the ability to respond to threats from the North.”

Koreatimes

Former United States Ambassador to South Korea