However, there is no reason to stop there. Pyongyang appears determined to expand its presumed nuclear arsenal and Beijing appears inclined to do nothing to stop the DPRK. Washington should indicate that it plans to reconsider its opposition to South Korea’s and Japan’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. Like domestic gun control, U.S. nonproliferation policy ensures that only the bad guys in East Asia are likely to end up with nukes. Rather than maintain a “nuclear umbrella” that requires America’s permanent entanglement in Asian disputes not its own, Washington should contemplate the benefits of Seoul and Tokyo creating their own deterrents—to both North Korea and China. The mere possibility of the former doing so might encourage Beijing to do more to pressure the DPRK to accept a deal giving up nuclear weapons.

Washington remains locked in a 1950s mindset in Asia. Today the United States defends the ROK while limiting the latter’s ability to defend itself. U.S. policy makers should set South Korea free.

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of several books, including Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World and The Korean Conundrum: America’s Troubled Relations with North and South Korea.

Image: littlebirdie.