Messages from Three Capitals

The United States was supposedly wanted to say that “Stop kidding. We are serious.” The diplomatic effort shown by the Secretary of State, John Kerry, proved US seriousness on the intimidation of North Korea. From Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo, Kerry sent different messages to Pyongyang. But, the message from Tokyo was also directed to the Japanese, too.

Diplomacy is always endorsed by military ability. US already deployed nuclear-loadable aircrafts in the process of US-South Korea joint military practice. The message was that US had been ready for any military actions of the North.

The existence of the Secretary of State in Northeast Asia at the time the North is preparing launching missile has its significance, because if the North launches missile when Kerry is there, the action automatically means not only attacking on the visiting country but also on US. US may have enough reason to attack the North, then.

With the background of that US-South Korea military cooperation, Kerry sent the hardest message from Seoul to Pyongyang that US would never tolerate the missile launching of the North. “Kim Jong-un needs to understand what the outcome of the conflict would be,” said Kerry at the press conference after the meeting with President Park Geun-hye and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.

In Beijing, Kerry had sent messages both to Pyongyang and Beijing. To the North, he showed the communication between US and China is still working. In the direct talk with US, China has nothing but condemning the North, because US and China somehow shared a view against the North in the discussion over new sanction at the United Nations Security Counsil. To China, Kerry urged Beijing further efforts to persuade the North. He seemed to remind China of the North’s intimidation eroding Chinese standpoint.

So, the last stop was Tokyo. Kerry emphasized the firmness of US-Japan alliance in the meeting with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, revealing that the bilateral relationship is unstable to the extent that he needed to have stressed it. But, in the meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Kerry also referred to the necessity of talks with the North, while Abe required strong measures against the North. That reflected a sense of difference between US and Japan, when Japan had already unilateral sanction against the North.

Kerry’s message to Japan might have been to let it calm down. Meanwhile, he did not forget to urge Japan to settle Futenma issue, indicating the importance of US nuclear umbrella over Japan. After all, Kerry warned North Korea by showing friendship with Japan by hiding uncertainty behind. Whether the North recognized the message is still not clear.