SEOUL – A senior adviser to South Korea’s president expressed a broad range of frustrations at U.S. policy toward North Korea, saying Washington has not adequately empowered Seoul to play a mediating role with Pyongyang. In an interview with VOA, Jeong Se-Hyun, who advises South Korean President Moon Jae-in on unification issues, also said the U.S. should offer more incentives to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. “Don’t act as if you’re offering a carrot while really you are using a stick,” said Jeong. “North Korea must first be given carrots. Then if that doesn’t work, you use a whip.” Jeong’s comments come just ahead of North Korea’s end-of-year deadline for the U.S. to offer more concessions in nuclear talks. The North has threatened to resume long-range missile or nuclear tests — steps which could upend two years of diplomacy. A return to major tensions on the Korean peninsula would be a political gut punch for President Moon, who has made outreach to North Korea a signature policy goal. Amid the breakdown in talks, North Korea has lashed out at its neighbor to the south, calling it a “meddlesome mediator” and refusing to participate in inter-Korean projects….