U.S. officials have labeled North Korea a nuclear power, possibly paving the way for another meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. We take a look at what's fueling current tensions on the Korean Peninsula in this conversation with Jada Fraser, a security analyst with the Asia Group.
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00:00How important are exercises like Freedom Shield between the U.S. and South Korea in maintaining
00:05peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula?
00:08It's not just having the treaty alliance that guarantees that.
00:11It's consistently operating together, ensuring that there's seamless interoperability between
00:21U.S. forces and South Korean forces.
00:24It's ensuring that our joint plans to respond to contingencies are actually being put into
00:33practice.
00:35These are the things that are crucial to maintaining deterrence, both from a lethality standpoint
00:44and knowing that both countries' militaries can operate together to respond to a contingency,
00:49but also from a deterrence signaling standpoint, showing potential adversaries that the U.S.-Korea
00:56alliance remains active, it remains strong, and prepared to respond to any acts of aggression.
01:04How big of a priority is handling aggressions from North Korea in the sense that its nuclear
01:10weapons program and its advancements in its weaponry, and now this new cooperation that
01:14Pyongyang has with Russia?
01:16North Korea's growing alignment with Russia, including deploying troops to support Russian
01:21operations is really significant.
01:24It's something that the Biden administration really picked up on, and many of our allies
01:29and partners in Asia are certainly concerned with this.
01:32Trump has made comments indicating a willingness to meet with Kim, and there's potential there
01:41for pursuing negotiations.
01:44But I would say that, you know, as it currently stands, the Trump administration foreign policy
01:49has really been focused on, you know, Europe primarily and ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
01:55And then there's also, you know, significant developments related to Gaza happening in
02:01the Middle East that are continuing to suck up bandwidth.
02:04So as of right now, I don't see, you know, the Trump administration really prioritizing
02:11its North Korean policy.
02:13We're seeing that U.S. officials are labeling North Korea as a nuclear power.
02:18Is this because North Korea's capabilities have advanced, they're getting better, and
02:22they pose a bigger threat to the United States?
02:24So I think, you know, all of these developments really underscore that it's a very complex
02:29and evolving security landscape on the Korean Peninsula.
02:32And I think it will be, you know, interesting to see how in this, you know, second Trump
02:40administration, you know, we're going to have a reformulization of U.S. national security
02:44strategy and national defense strategies that will be forthcoming.
02:49And looking at how North Korea is kind of framed in and categorized in these documents
02:56compared to both the former Biden administration, but also Trump's first term will be important.