Multiple reports indicating North Korea might not have abandoned its nuclear missile program are of particular concern if it means Kim Jong Un "is not in full control," columnist and China expert Gordon Chang said Monday.
In remarks on Newsmax TV's "America Talks Live," The Daily Beast columnist and author of "The Coming Collapse of China" said there could be a number of explanations for the troubling satellite imagery recently exposed.
"As [National Security Adviser] John Bolton has said, we're going to know pretty soon if they made that strategic decision to give up their weapons program," Chang said.
"If they have, then we don't have to worry about what they were doing in the last few weeks or so. If they haven't, it's gonna require a whole new change in American policy."
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But one explanation "concerns me more . . . [that] Kim wants to give up the weapons program, but he can't convince his generals to do so, and he doesn't control them," Chang said.
Chang pointed to the recent replacement of top military officers in the rogue regime that might indicate "Kim is not in full command."
"Kim may be in a position where he's not really able to control the generals," Chang said. "There's a lot of things to suggest he doesn't really fully control what goes on in the military . . . it's something we need to consider."
Still, Chang noted there still "a lot of things we can do short of the use of force."
"We can tighten the sanctions," he said, and "we can actually go after North Korea's major power sponsors, the Russians and the Chinese."
"The [United States] has to step back and say 'we don't really know what's going on,'" he said. "We got to start increasing the pressure on North Korea, so they don't have a choice but to give up their weapons."
But, Chang added, "I care what [President Donald] Trump is willing to do to force Kim to give up his weapons."
"It's a good thing that the president has accelerated the diplomacy . . . we're not letting the North Koreans drag this out," he said. "And that's really a good thing . . . if they don't, we've got too change our policies."
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