Washington (May 16, 2018) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the East Asia Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged caution about the intentions of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

“Without an agreement on what denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula means to North Korea, we shouldn’t assume that we’ve actually applied enough pressure to compel a weakened Pyongyang to the negotiating table,” said Senator Markey. “Kim Jong Un appears to believe that he is negotiating from a position of strength as he uses his family’s playbook of trying to extract concessions from the United States. I urge President Trump not to take the bait. U.S. military professionals training in the region with our allies is a better and more responsible deterrent to North Korea than ‘fire and fury’ and other rhetorical bombast.

“We should continue to push for a diplomatic resolution, backed by economic pressure. If negotiations fail, we must be prepared to further ratchet up economic pressure, as there is no military solution to the North Korean threat.”

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