US must stop playing games with DPRK

Since taking office, Trump has paid special attention to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. He has pressured China to resolve the issue, held several military drills in the waters off the peninsula, and imposed stricter sanctions on the DPRK. The international community has tried different methods, sanctions included, to unsuccessfully persuade the DPRK to return to the negotiation table in the hope of resolving the peninsula issue.

But the DPRK remains isolated from the international community because of the hostile policies of some countries, including the US, and if this situation continues for long, Pyongyang could become more prone to taking irrational, radical actions given the limited options at its disposal.

Indeed, in early December the DPRK expressed its willingness to hold direct talks with the US and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested the talks be held "without preconditions". However, the White House contradicted Tillerson, saying no talks can be held unless the DPRK abandons its nuclear and missile program. This suggests the changing but tough attitude of Washington is, to a large extent, responsible for the heightened tensions on the peninsula.

The DPRK has not been offered enough incentives to abandon its nuclear program. And the DPRK cannot be expected to stop its nuclear and missile program under the pressure of stricter sanctions, as the international community has experienced over the years.

It's time the international community realized that sanctions are not the answer to the Korean Peninsula problem and, therefore, it should listen to the DPRK and drive some sense into it, for which the latter has to be persuaded back to the negotiation table. And this should be done sooner rather than later because the longer the tensions on the peninsula last the higher the chances of a conflict breaking out.

Fan Jishe, dean of the Department of Strategic Studies at the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences