The article from “The Economist” (September 27th-October 3rd 2025), “The Deadly Allure Of A Bad Deal1“, warns that North Korea’s threat is worse than ever and the Trump Administration should not be tempted to recognize North Korea as an official nuclear state by the United States and to join a peace treaty for official termination of Korean War, which would lead to withdraw of US forces from South Korea. According to the article, North Korea has developed its weapons, including ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles), accentuated control over its society, and built strong ties with Russia by supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. Also, it points out that any method of denuclearization of North Korea, both hardline policy and engagement policy has never worked and instead of strengthen North Korea’s obsession to nuclear power as a guarantee for the survival of the nation. Most importantly, considering that North Korea signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1985, vowing not to build a bomb in exchange for civilian nuclear assistance, recognizing its nuclear arsenal without penalties would encourage other states to take the same path. The article wraps up by addressing a quote from Andrei Sakharov, Soviet dissident, ” A County that does not respect the rights of its own people will not respect the rights of its neighbors”.
The U.S. should not legitimate North Korea’s nuclear program, since such acknowledgement would tempt other countries to follow North Korea’s path. Also, South Korea and Japan may develop nuclear weapons in response to the threat of North Korea. It will weaken the non-proliferation effort of the international community. Pax Americana, which lasted for several decades after the end of the Cold War, is now over, and the world is now multipolar with the emergence of superpowers such as China and Russia. While the hegemonic conflict between superpowers lasts, emergence of more nuclear states, especially if those countries are non-democratic, authoritarian, and insecure, will accelerate the nuclear arms race between countries and it will importantly increase the risk of catastrophic nuclear conflict.
- “The Deadly Allure Of A Bad Deal,” *The Economist*, (2025): 9. ↩︎
