The North Korean Nuclear Crisis: A Strategy of Conditional Engagement

Abstract

The North Korean nuclear weapons program is a significant strategic threat to the United States and East Asia. The US Government should adopt a strategy of conditional engagement with Pyongyang in order to prevail upon North Korea (DPRK) to curtail and ultimately abandon its nuclear weapons program. North Korea's nuclear weapons program. North Korea has long been suspected of having a nuclear weapons program, despite being a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and the 1992 Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. On 21 October 1994, Pyongyang entered into an "Agreed Framework" with the United States, in which it agreed to "freeze" its nuclear program and allow international inspections in return for fuel oil and "proliferation-resistant" nuclear reactors. As of September 2003, however, North Korea had abrogated the 1994 Agreed Framework, withdrawn from the NPT, and forced international inspectors to leave the country. 2 The CIA, in a report submitted to Congress on 19 November 2002, asserted that North Korea had one or possibly two weapons using plutonium it produced prior to 1992" and had "continued its nuclear weapons program." In April 2003, North Korea publicly admitted to having "a nuclear weapons capability" but proposed to "dismantle its nuclear facilities, allow inspections, and curb ballistic missile exports in return for a U.S. non-aggression pledge, establishment of diplomatic relations, and a commitment not to obstruct North Korean economic relations." On 2 October 2003, North Korea announced it had finished reprocessing spent fuel rods into plutonium and thereby had "nuclear deterrence." North Korea's justification for its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang Radio (KCNA) on 12 May 2003 blamed the United States for forcing North Korea to develop nuclear weapons.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA441603

Entities

People

  • Toby J. Finnegan

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Arms Control Treaties
  • Far East
  • Governments
  • Intelligence Collection
  • Korea
  • National Security
  • Negotiations
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Energy
  • Nuclear Reactors
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Public Diplomacy
  • South Korea
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • International Relations, focusing on Korea-Africa and North Korea-South Korea relations, and Nigeria-Latin American Relations.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Strategic Security Studies