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Although the Cold War has been over with for decades one of its proxy conflicts persists. The Korean Peninsula today remains divided between a democratic, capitalist South Korea and a totalitarian, communist North Korea, with both sides technically still at war since an armistice ended the Korean War from 1950-1953. The United States still bases more than 30,000 troops in South Korea, anticipating a North Korean attack due to threats made by current and past leaders, notably King Jong-un and his father Kim Jong-il. What makes North Korea’s bellicose rhetoric concerning is that it has enhanced its nuclear capabilities since the 1990s. The international community has worked to punish the North for this activity, but the regime has persisted and analysts worry that its missile technology is steadily improving, with some worrying that one day the North might have the ability to target Hawaii, Alaska, or the West Coast of the United States. Nevertheless, are worries about North Korea, a regime that struggles to feed its own people, justified? It is not uncommon for extempers to make such calculations in rounds concerning East Asia or foreign policy and that is what this topic brief will attempt to help with.
This topic brief will provide some vocabulary that extempers should know when discussing the North Korean nuclear threat, highlight the reasons that the international community has struggled to deal with North Korea, and analyze why North Korea is a growing threat to international security.
Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.
Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany 
Most pictures of North Korea’s revered leader Kim Jong-Il show him looking at things. Whether it be on a tour of the country’s military outposts, economic facilities, or during a meeting with top diplomats of other nations, Kim Jong-Il is always looking at something.
Okinawa Issue Lingers
As has been the case over the last several years, international attention was focused on North Korea last week as former U.S. president Bill Clinton went on a “humanitarian” mission to seek the release of two American journalists detained there. Unlike other attempts at international reconciliation with North Korea, Clinton’s visit was a large success, winning the release of the journalists and possibly opening a new arena of dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea over its human rights record and nuclear program.
Early last month, North Korea angered the international community over its launch of a long range missile (Taepodong-2). This launch went against UN Security Council resolutions that ban North Korea from conducting ballistic missile tests, although North Korea’s government saw it as an attempted satellite launch, arguing that it had the right to explore space. This launch was determined to be a failure, with the second and third stages of the rocket failing to separate as planned. Despite this failure, North Korea appears to have gained international attention yet again, by conducting its second nuclear test.
If any extempers thought that the removal of the Bush administration would see a reduction in international tensions they have been proved wrong by the recent tensions on the Korean peninsula that continue to rise daily. The North Korean regime of Kim Jong-Il, known for its inability to refrain from shining the international media spotlight on it for too long, is threatening to launch a long range missile, called Taepodong 2 or Paektusan 2, which it claims is actually a rocket meant to send a satellite into space.