From Anthony Stahelski at The Moderate Voice:
The United States, which is technically still at war with North Korea, sees the country as a threat to South Korea, Japan, the East Asia region, and now to the United States itself. Through twelve American presidential administrations behavior modification has been our fundamental North Korean strategy. Behavior modification is a simple tool for guiding behavior: if people do something you like, you reward them; if they do something you don’t like, you punish them. Behavior modification can work on pets, children and employees, but, as implemented by American policy makers, it has not worked on the Kims.
Why not? The original Kim gained power through ruthlessness, and the latter Kims maintain power through fear. If the current Kim actually made the concessions required to gain rewards, he will be perceived as weak, which will diminish people’s fear and therefore Kim’s power. American presidents have failed to understand that behavior modification only works if the individual whose behavior one wishes to modify can actually be controlled by the rewards and punishments used. The Kims have proven to be uncontrollable. They have lied to receive the rewards (food and other economic aid) and gotten away with it, and our sanctions are not perceived as punishments because the Kims do not care about the suffering of their people, plus they always find ways to get around the sanctions. Regime punishment, not population punishment, is necessary and that would likely require a military intervention. No President, including Donald Trump, has been willing to seriously consider that option.
So what else can we do?