Cold Olympic Games begin on planet's hottest spot

Forget about giving North Korea a 'bloody nose' and allow time for sanctions to work: Our view

The Editorial Board | USA Today

For at least the next several weeks, the revelry of youth and Olympian glories of the Pyeongchang Games will push aside prospects of a bloody war on the Korean Peninsula.

A nascent thaw between North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae In resulted in an agreement that athletes from both countries march under one flag at Friday's opening ceremonies and field a joint women's hockey team.

Americans grumbled at being left on the sidelines but agreed to postpone joint annual military exercises until at least after the Winter Paralympics end on March 18. It seems that productive discussions, however limited, can at least momentarily replace juvenile tit-for-tat invective about whose nuclear button is bigger.

OPPOSING VIEW: ‘Bloody nose’ might be the less risky option

So much for the good news.

The bad news is that Kim could just be buying time. The thaw might last no longer than the positive feelings from the Winter Games in Sochi four years ago, after which Russian President Vladimir Putin promptly annexed Crimea.

Kim appears as determined as ever to bristle with nuclear weapons, calling in a New Year's speech for mass production of warheads and ballistic missiles, and boasting about being able to strike anywhere on the U.S. mainland.

To counter Kim's nuclear ambitions, the Trump administration is weighing what's being termed the "bloody nose" concept — a non-nuclear first strike by U.S. forces to reduce Kim's arsenal and show him that America means business.

You'd think that the 2003 Iraq War, which President Trump has rightly described as a debacle, would be enough to table the idea of a pre-emptive strike against a nation that hasn't attacked America. Apparently not.

At best, such a strike would temporarily set back North Korea's nuclear program, which features weapons scattered and buried in secret sites. At worst, it would risk escalation and retaliation that could leave the entire peninsula drenched in blood.

The Olympics site is just 50 miles from the North Korean border. About 10 million South Koreans live in Seoul, only 35 miles from the border and well within range of North Korean artillery.

There are also up to 230,000 American civilians and servicemembers in that killing zone, as Trump's one-time choice for South Korean ambassador, Georgetown University professor Victor Cha, pointed out — and then was subsequently sidelined for his reservations about the bloody-nose option.

Lost amid the saber rattling is a more promising approach, one for which Trump can claim credit: implementing unilaterally, and through the United Nations, the toughest sanctions yet against North Korea — sanctions that are isolating Kim and causing real pain.

North Korean exports have been cut by 90%, and oil imports from China have been capped. Financial restrictions on banks doing business with the regime, including those in China, are biting and could be made even stronger. Vice President Pence, rightly labeling North Korea the "most tyrannical and oppressive regime on the planet," announced Wednesday that even tougher sanctions are coming.

Satellite images show desperate efforts by the North Koreans to bring in oil through ship-to-ship transfers offshore, something naval interdiction by the U.S. and allies could prevent. Pyongyang scaled back vital winter military exercises, likely because of oil shortages. Defections are up, as are retaliatory executions.

During his New Year's speech, Kim conceded the truth of "the Korean people (suffering) difficult living conditions caused by life-threatening sanctions and blockade."

The world should be clear-eyed about the dictator's outreach during the Winter Olympics. He would love to drive a wedge between the United States and a South Korea eager for a diplomatic breakthrough.

Even so, Kim's make-nice efforts also signal that he is hurting. This underscores that sanctions can work, and Trump should have the patience to let them keep working.

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