N. Korea tests US ‘strategic’ patience ANALYSIS 07/17/2010

N. Korea tests US ‘strategic’ patience

ANALYSIS 07/17/2010 WASHINGTON — With North Korea thumbing its nose at the response to the sinking of a warship, the United States is left wondering how long to keep up its policy of studied coolness toward the communist state. The UN Security Council last week condemned the sinking of South Korea’s Cheonan vessel, which killed 46 persons. But it stopped short of blaming North Korea, which claimed a diplomatic victory and demanded Thursday that the United States prove Pyongyang’s involvement in the March incident. The United States has responded to the Korean peninsula’s deadliest incident in decades by standing firmly behind South Korea. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates are expected next week in Seoul to announce joint naval exercises, despite objections by China. But the longer-term US policy toward the North is less clear. Before the Cheonan’s sinking, Clinton described a US stance of “strategic patience” — waiting for Pyongyang to come forward rather than hastily offering incentives. “How to move forward, and when, are all questions that lots of people are thinking about,” said Bonnie Glaser, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. “There’s a recognition that, based on past patterns and practice, the longer there is a lack of dialog and interaction, the greater the likelihood for North Korean brinkmanship and provocative action,” Glaser said.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100717com3.html

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