U.S..-North Korean relations Archives

[fblike]

Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd, the only software built specifically for extemp. Prepd makes it easy to research, practice, and compete! Visit www.prepd.in to learn more. Like Prepd on Facebook for special info and contests.

This R&D provides resources on U.S.-North Korean relations. The United States has never had warm relations with North Korea, as the two nations waged war between 1950-1953. Since the 1990s, the United States has worried about the North’s drive for a nuclear weapon. These fears have grown due to recent rocket launches that indicate the North’s desire to create a ballistic missile that one day may put areas of the U.S. West Coast in danger. The U.S. still has thousands of troops in South Korea and some policymakers want to increase sanctions in an effort to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. However, others point out that it is China, not the U.S., that holds the trump card regarding the North’s behavior.

The U.S. Senate approved strict sanctions intended to limit North Korea’s ability to finance warheads and missiles https://t.co/oeMQQX33E6

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) February 11, 2016

On North Korea, US policymakers misunderstand the history between Beijing and Pyongyang: https://t.co/7ytgzlH6vn

— The Diplomat (@Diplomat_APAC) February 14, 2016

The Rogue-State Nuclear Missile Threat: North Korea can now threaten most of the continental US. https://t.co/58bpKuC7Bt

— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) February 14, 2016

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.

Clinton’s visit to North Korea was the first high profile U.S. visit to the country since Clinton sent his Secretary of State Madeline Albright there a decade ago. Under Clinton, tensions between the U.S. and North Korea were high, with some experts predicting a renewed Korean War in the post-Cold War world. However, thanks to the 1994 Agreed Framework between the two countries, those tensions simmered down until North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003.

The visit of the former president granted a degree of prestige to North Korea’s ailing leader Kim Jong-il, whose recent belligerent actions in regards to nuclear weapon and missile tests are said to be designed to shore up his standing in the country with the military and ensure that his third son takes his place. In fact, it has been reported that the North Korean government informed the United States that if President Clinton came to visit them that they would grant the release of the two journalists.

This topic brief will provide some quick background of the dispute over the journalists, explain how the release of the journalists could impact international mediation over the North Korea nuclear issue, and how it could have major political and foreign policy impacts for the Obama administration moving forward.

Tag: U.S..-North Korean relations

R&D from Prepd: U.S.-North Korean Relations

Topic Brief: Bill Clinton’s Visit to North Korea