Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain explained why it is important not to take North Korea’s saber-rattling lightly, especially given the country’s its stepped-up effort to procure a nuclear weapon.
According to McCain, policy toward North Korea, especially aid policy, has yet to work.
“I think it’s probably more serious because of their increased capability,” McCain said. “But you’re right, this has been going on for decades — a cycle of confrontation, negotiation, aid, and the false hope that somehow the North Koreans would give up their efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. Without that, North Korea is totally irrelevant. I mean, both Republican and Democrat administrations have fallen prey to this, well, if we give them food, if we give them oil, if we give them money, if we do the — then they will come around.”
“And they take our money and run,” he continued. “It was the Bush administration that lifted sanctions, freed up a bank account that they had. Always we have been of the belief that somehow we can entice them into giving up this capability. They are not. They are not. But can I just say I don’t think they’re going to do anything more than their predecessors did, but they have greater capability. And they don’t think like us. And they do have the ability to set Seoul on fire.”
McCain explained the situation on the Korean peninsula was fragile and that at any point things could escalate, even if by accident.
“I mean, they’ve got artillery along the DMZ in caves that it would be capable — before we could take them out, they would be capable of shelling a city of millions of people,” McCain warned. “This is dangerous. Anybody who has read Barbara Tuchman’s ‘Guns of August’ know that many times in history conflicts have started by accident, by escalatory measures. And, again, do not believe that this young man thinks like we do. He doesn’t.”
He went on to call on the Chinese to do something to influence the rogue nation’s behavior, especially considering its neighbor has such an influence on North Korea’s economy.
“[L]ook, if we showed Kim Jong-un that he really doesn’t have the ability to launch a missile that would strike Guam or the United States of America, I think let’s do something different from what we’ve been doing in the past, but also the most important and key element of all this is China,” McCain declared. “China is the only country that can affect North Korean behavior. They can shut down in a short period of time their economy. And remember, this is a country that has 200,000 people in a gulag where people are being tortured and the worst regime in history, where is our advocacy for human rights?”
As for how far along the North Koreans are with their capabilities, McCain said he wasn’t sure but emphasized the importance of doing something about the problem.
“I don’t think we know for sure,” he said. “There have been other miscalculations by our intelligence agency, but have no doubt that they’re on the path to achieving that capability. Look what they’ve achieved over the last 10-15 years, and also exported including to other countries, including Iran.”