Last week, 44 year old Kenneth Bae became the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009. His sentence is the most severe punishment to date. He faces 15 years of hard labor for committing “hostile acts” against the North Korean government.
Now, the U.S. is faced with a diplomacy choice. In the past, it has sent a former President to smooth things over. But with tensions between the U.S. and North Korea already high, what should be the course of action this time?
David Straub is Associate Director of Korean Studies at Stanford and, in 2009, was part of Bill Clinton’s envoy to rescue incarcerated journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.