Indonesia in the North Korean Nuclear Crisis: Possibilities and Opportunities

Abstract

North Korean (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or North Korea) nuclear ambition is one of the hotly debated topics in the international relations for recent years. One possible rational policy options towards the situation with North Korea is engagement. However, pessimistic opinion is still around the engagement strategy. Based on that development, it would be interesting to see an “honest broker” jump in into the dialogue to lobby the North over its ambition. This paper argues that Indonesia could be one of the solutions for North Korean nuclear crisis. In this regard, as new middle power in Asia, Indonesia could be the “honest broker” to solve the problem of North Korea. As middle power, Indonesia would have a perception of being neutral in the conflict. Moreover, Indonesia could also offer cooperation with North Korea, so that the engagement strategy would not be a zero-sum game and create a coalition for punishment tomorrow.