President and Prisoner

President and Prisoner

On Friday, former President Carter returned from Pyongyang, where he had traveled to free an American man imprisoned by North Korea for alleged illegal entrance of the country. The man, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, is only the latest example in a string of high-profile detainments of Americans by the North Korean government for similar alleged crimes. Robert Park, for whom it seems that Gomes entered the country, was detained in December after visiting North Korea in order to expose poor conditions at prison camps and freed in February, and he followed the arrest and eventual release of two American journalists last year. Never before has the lack of US involvement in any way with the North Korean government been this obvious or this crippling to both the Americans who suffer in prisons for extended periods of time because of the non-presence of the US in the nation and to the nuclear goals of America.
Over the past few months, the American government (along with the UN) has begun to lay out new sanctions in response to North Korean plans and actions that violate international nuclear treaties and limits. However, US-sponsored sanctions upon North Korea are nearly useless. America engages in no tangible trade with the North Koreans; the governments' only interactions are verbal back-and-forths about the US/South Korean military drills and any incidents that happen between the North and South Koreans. The only country that could truly make a difference in North Korea economically would be China, who seems minimally interested in cutting ties economically or diplomatically with the nuclear hotspot they boarder.
Unfortunately, even if the other members of the UN, including the US, were all to agree on economic sanctions in North Korea, nothing would be implemented. China is a permanent member of the Security Counsel, and therefore has a veto vote.
The US must either begin to directly engage the North Koreans (although, due to the American involvement in the South Korean war drills, any beneficial relationship seems unlikely) or begin lobbying China heavily to partake in an economic isolation of the country. It is unlucky that, because of recent economic practices, America has minimal pull with China, but perhaps an agreement will be reached, for one must be reached if any nuclear limits are to be enforced or economic sanctions be carried out.