Korea denuclearization would remain goal if Harris wins White House: campaign official

The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula would remain a U.S. policy objective should Vice President Kamala Harris win the White House race in November, a former Pentagon official said Tuesday, dispelling concerns about the exclusion of the goal in the Democratic Party’s new policy platform.

Colin Kahl, former undersecretary of defense for policy, made the remarks, saying that people appear to be “overreading” the platform. He is known to have participated in a process to write the platform expected to help set the tone for Harris’ policy stances.

During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, party delegates officially adopted the platform that did not have any mention of the goal in contrast with the 2020 document that stated a pledge to advance the “longer-term goal of denuclearization.”

“Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains an objective of this (Biden) administration and, I would have to imagine, a Harris-Walz administration,” Kahl told a press briefing.

Noting the reality of a challenging and time-consuming process to reach that objective, he highlighted a “near-term” priority to beef up deterrence against North Korean threats.

“I think realistically in the near term, I don’t think that experts who look at the Korean Peninsula see an imminent prospect of denuclearization,” he said.

“So the near-term priority has to be to make sure that we’re defending our alliance commitments as it relates to South Korea, but also to close allies like Japan … but also strengthening our deterrent.”

The omission of the denuclearization language in the 2024 platform raised questions over whether it signals any potential policy focus shift or reflects North Korea’s unwillingness to talk or other hurdles toward that goal.

Some observers said that the exclusion might reflect Washington’s emphasis on doubling down on deterrence to counter North Korean threats following Pyongyang’s rejections of talks over a denuclearization deal.

The omission also caused concerns that Pyongyang could misconstrue it as an opening to seek the U.S.’ acknowledgment of the North as a de facto nuclear power and negotiations on arms control rather than on denuclearization — an anathema to Seoul.