PANMUNJON, South Korea — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. peered into the leafless wilderness of North Korea on Saturday, making a time-honored visit to the demilitarized zone just hours after the North released an American citizen detained by the authorities since October.
North Korea’s freeing of Merrill Newman, an 85-year-old military veteran from Palo Alto, Calif., punctuated an unusually eventful trip by Mr. Biden to Japan, China, and South Korea that focused, at every stop, on how to deal with the nuclear-armed North.
While the vice president said he had not played a “direct role” in securing Mr. Newman’s release, the timing suggested North Korea was exploiting his presence to make a statement. And it leached some of the Cold War-style tension from Mr. Biden’s visit to this no man’s land that has hung over previous visits by American leaders.
Standing on a sunny observation deck, Mr. Biden looked through binoculars into the North, as a South Korean soldier told him that the Korean People’s Army was not, for the moment, “manifesting any hostilities.” Unlike when President Obama visited in March 2012, there was no need for a bulletproof barrier around the vice president.
“Welcome to the edge of freedom,” a military commander said to Mr. Biden. “Good to be back,” he replied.
The vice president’s visit to Asia came a time of deep uncertainty about the North, with reports that its supreme ruler, Kim Jong-un, had ordered a purge of one of his closest relatives. But it also came in the wake of diplomatic advances with another would-be nuclear power, Iran, that suggest new possibilities in dealing with the reclusive regime in Pyongyang.
On Wednesday in Beijing, Mr. Biden discussed North Korea at length with President Xi Jinping, according to administration officials. China has watched recent reports of the purge in North Korea with concern, while Mr. Biden, citing the example of Iran, pressed Mr. Xi to put more economic and financial pressure on Mr. Kim’s regime to curb its nuclear ambitions.
The Iranian nuclear deal, negotiated with China as one of the major-power partners, has made Mr. Xi somewhat open to the argument that pressure, combined with an offer of dialogue, can be a recipe for new diplomacy with North Korea, according to American officials.
“The credibility of our argument about the impact of pressure on diplomatic solutions has been enhanced in the eyes of a number of countries, including China, by what’s happened with Iran,” said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe the exchanges between Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi.
There are signs that China is losing patience with the North Korean regime. In September, it imposed unprecedented export controls against Pyongyang. Mr. Xi, officials said, is more forward-leaning on pressuring North Korea than was his predecessor, Hu Jintao.
But significant gaps still remain. China remains Pyongyang’s chief patron and has resisted past efforts to impose punishing sanctions. Chinese officials continue to call for the United States to return to multilateral talks with the North, which the Obama administration has ruled out until Pyongyang takes concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear program.
Iran, the American official cautioned, is not a “strict template” for North Korea because the North already possesses nuclear weapons while Iran is still short of that threshold. But there are parallels, including the mix of sanctions and dialogue that eventually brought the Iranians to a six-month deal that freezes elements of their nuclear program while both sides search for a comprehensive agreement.
“That logic, which produced the interim deal in the Iran case, we are laying out as being what should apply in the North Korea case as well, and we’ve got a strong argument to make in that respect,” the official said.
In the case of Iran, the six major powers negotiating with Tehran have been unified on the use of escalating oil and financial sanctions to drag Iran to the bargaining table. In the case of the Six Party talks with North Korea, however, China remains an outlier. The other parties involved are South Korea, the United States, Russia, and Japan.
In his meeting with Mr. Xi and later with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea, Mr. Biden pointed out his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, who, along with Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns, conducted secret direct negotiations with Iranian officials for months before the announcement of the interim deal in Geneva.
American officials would not discuss what the Chinese told Mr. Biden about reports that Mr. Kim relieved his powerful uncle, Jang Song Thaek, of his posts following the public execution of two of his aides. Mr. Jang, the brother-in-law of Mr. Kim’s father, Kim Jong-il, is a familiar figure to the Chinese and if he were purged, it would raise questions for the Chinese government, which is already impatient with Mr. Kim.
In a speech in Seoul on Friday, Mr. Biden reaffirmed the determination of the United States to protect South Korea from the nuclear threat from the North. He called, as Mr. Obama and other American officials have, for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
As Mr. Biden paid a visit to the War Memorial of Korea on the morning he left, he basked in the glow of happy news of Mr. Newman’s release. Squinting in the bright daylight, he said, “At least there’s one bright piece of sunshine that he will be released and return to his family.”
North Korea’s freeing of Merrill Newman, an 85-year-old military veteran from Palo Alto, Calif., punctuated an unusually eventful trip by Mr. Biden to Japan, China, and South Korea that focused, at every stop, on how to deal with the nuclear-armed North.
While the vice president said he had not played a “direct role” in securing Mr. Newman’s release, the timing suggested North Korea was exploiting his presence to make a statement. And it leached some of the Cold War-style tension from Mr. Biden’s visit to this no man’s land that has hung over previous visits by American leaders.
Standing on a sunny observation deck, Mr. Biden looked through binoculars into the North, as a South Korean soldier told him that the Korean People’s Army was not, for the moment, “manifesting any hostilities.” Unlike when President Obama visited in March 2012, there was no need for a bulletproof barrier around the vice president.
“Welcome to the edge of freedom,” a military commander said to Mr. Biden. “Good to be back,” he replied.
The vice president’s visit to Asia came a time of deep uncertainty about the North, with reports that its supreme ruler, Kim Jong-un, had ordered a purge of one of his closest relatives. But it also came in the wake of diplomatic advances with another would-be nuclear power, Iran, that suggest new possibilities in dealing with the reclusive regime in Pyongyang.
On Wednesday in Beijing, Mr. Biden discussed North Korea at length with President Xi Jinping, according to administration officials. China has watched recent reports of the purge in North Korea with concern, while Mr. Biden, citing the example of Iran, pressed Mr. Xi to put more economic and financial pressure on Mr. Kim’s regime to curb its nuclear ambitions.
The Iranian nuclear deal, negotiated with China as one of the major-power partners, has made Mr. Xi somewhat open to the argument that pressure, combined with an offer of dialogue, can be a recipe for new diplomacy with North Korea, according to American officials.
“The credibility of our argument about the impact of pressure on diplomatic solutions has been enhanced in the eyes of a number of countries, including China, by what’s happened with Iran,” said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe the exchanges between Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi.
There are signs that China is losing patience with the North Korean regime. In September, it imposed unprecedented export controls against Pyongyang. Mr. Xi, officials said, is more forward-leaning on pressuring North Korea than was his predecessor, Hu Jintao.
But significant gaps still remain. China remains Pyongyang’s chief patron and has resisted past efforts to impose punishing sanctions. Chinese officials continue to call for the United States to return to multilateral talks with the North, which the Obama administration has ruled out until Pyongyang takes concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear program.
Iran, the American official cautioned, is not a “strict template” for North Korea because the North already possesses nuclear weapons while Iran is still short of that threshold. But there are parallels, including the mix of sanctions and dialogue that eventually brought the Iranians to a six-month deal that freezes elements of their nuclear program while both sides search for a comprehensive agreement.
“That logic, which produced the interim deal in the Iran case, we are laying out as being what should apply in the North Korea case as well, and we’ve got a strong argument to make in that respect,” the official said.
In the case of Iran, the six major powers negotiating with Tehran have been unified on the use of escalating oil and financial sanctions to drag Iran to the bargaining table. In the case of the Six Party talks with North Korea, however, China remains an outlier. The other parties involved are South Korea, the United States, Russia, and Japan.
In his meeting with Mr. Xi and later with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea, Mr. Biden pointed out his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, who, along with Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns, conducted secret direct negotiations with Iranian officials for months before the announcement of the interim deal in Geneva.
American officials would not discuss what the Chinese told Mr. Biden about reports that Mr. Kim relieved his powerful uncle, Jang Song Thaek, of his posts following the public execution of two of his aides. Mr. Jang, the brother-in-law of Mr. Kim’s father, Kim Jong-il, is a familiar figure to the Chinese and if he were purged, it would raise questions for the Chinese government, which is already impatient with Mr. Kim.
In a speech in Seoul on Friday, Mr. Biden reaffirmed the determination of the United States to protect South Korea from the nuclear threat from the North. He called, as Mr. Obama and other American officials have, for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
As Mr. Biden paid a visit to the War Memorial of Korea on the morning he left, he basked in the glow of happy news of Mr. Newman’s release. Squinting in the bright daylight, he said, “At least there’s one bright piece of sunshine that he will be released and return to his family.”