Engaging North Korea: Put on a Happy Face, But Keep One Hand on the Big Stick

Abstract

This paper outlines strategic considerations regarding U.S. policy with respect to North Korea, and concludes that the current policy being pursued by the Bush Administration is, rightly, wary of North Korean trustworthiness and intentions. The current policy, however, also overestimates the threat to the U.S. homeland posed by the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK); overestimates the possibility of coercing North Korea into taking positive actions on key U.S. interests (especially preventing nuclear and missile proliferation); and undervalues the potential benefits of engaging Pyongyang regarding its ballistic missile program, bearing in mind that any agreement must be comprehensive and fully verifiable.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA442138

Entities

People

  • Paul R. Sutphin

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Asia
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Governments
  • International Relations
  • International Security
  • Korea
  • National Security
  • Negotiations
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Energy
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Security
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

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