Background
North Korea (officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) is isolated, impoverished, and an avowed enemy of its southern neighbor, South Korea (officially called the Republic of Korea), an important ally of the United States. Kim Jong Un, who inherited the title of supreme leader from his father and grandfather, threat Japan, South Korea and the United States with missile strikes. At home, Kim silenced all opposition by detention between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners, purge high-ranking officials, and probably by ordering the assassination of his half-brother.
American military involvement in the Korean Peninsula has its roots in the Korean War from the early 1950s to the start of the Cold War, during which the United States supported forces in the south of the peninsula against communist forces in the north, which received military aid from China and the Soviet Union. Today, the United States is determined to defend South Korea under a deal mutual defense treaty (PDF). For this purpose, the United States has nearly 29,000 soldiers deployed on the Korean peninsula. In addition to American troops, many South Korean soldiers 630,000 soldiers and North Korea 1.2 million soldiers are stationed near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), making it one of the most heavily armed borders in the world.
In violation of the UN Security Council resolutionsNorth Korea continue overt efforts at nuclear enrichment and long-range missile development. Although the extent of North Korea's uranium enrichment program remains unclear, U.S. intelligence agencies estimate (PDF) that it has enough plutonium to produce at least six nuclear weapons, and perhaps as many sixty. Decades of negotiations have so far failed to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons program; see CFR Timeline for a detailed history of the negotiations.
In September 2017, North Korea led its sixth nuclear weapons test, its most powerful test to this day. He also claimed to have developed a hydrogen bomb, or thermonuclear bomb, which would represent further advances in the nuclear program and the ability to build more powerful and higher-yield nuclear weapons. The same year, the country successfully conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and US intelligence agencies determined that North Korea could miniaturize its nuclear weapons to integrate them into a missile. However, North Korea has not yet demonstrated that its nuclear warheads resist reentry into the earth's atmosphere.
In response to the increasing frequency of missile tests, the United States deployed an anti-missile system in South Korea. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is located in the Seongju region of South Korea, one hundred and fifty-five miles from the northern border. Additionally, Japan, South Korea and the United States maintain unilateral sanctions on North Korea, and the UN Security Council adopted tough measures multilateral sanctions. In 2017, the United States put North Korea back in the spotlight. list state sponsors of terrorism, a decision that allowed for additional sanctions.
In 2018, North and South Korea began diplomatic rapprochement, and North Korean officials attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Kim announced a freeze on weapons testing, assisted three summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and encounter three times with Donald Trump, who became the first American president to set foot in North Korea. During their summits, Kim and Moon sign statements pledging to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a formal end to the war between the two countries. But ultimately, nuclear negotiations with the United States reached a point dead endand North Korea restarted weapons tests in 2019. In 2020, North Korea exploded a North-South liaison office, and Kim announced a new phase in relations, calling South Korea an enemy.
In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, North Korea implemented one of the strictest border closures in the world, depressing the country's economy and exacerbates hunger. However, North Korea has not reported any COVID-19 cases in months and in 2021. rejected foreign vaccines. Entry restrictions extended to foreign dignitaries, almost completely isolating North Korea.
Concerns
North Korea is a nuclear power with a complex relations with China, and preventing both a Korean interstate war and an internal collapse of North Korea are crucial U.S. national security interests. Along with continued weapons and missile tests, small-scale military and cyber provocations by North Korea pose significant risks, as each incident carries the potential for new, potentially uncontrollable consequences. escalation. North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un's outright threats are also concerning, as he complaints that North Korean weapons can now reach American territories and even the American continent.
Recent developments
In 2022, after a two-year lull in testing, North Korea launched a registration number missiles. Frequent testing continued through 2023 and included its first solid fuel ICMB, the Hwasong-18which requires less casting time and is easier to hide. If successfully developed, it would reduce the likelihood of success of a preemptive strike against North Korea's arsenal. He also launched a missile about Japan for the first time since 2017 and tested a record twenty-three missiles in a single day in November 2022. In July 2023, Kim received high-level Chinese and Russian delegations for the first time in years and sworn strengthen bilateral relations with each.
In a first policy review carried out in 2021, the Joe Biden administration defined a happy medium approach to North Korea, combining diplomacy and deterrence. Consistent with this policy, in July 2023, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the administration prepared for discussions “without preconditions”; a few days later, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol onboard a US nuclear-capable missile submarine visiting Busan, South Korea.
Yoon has taken a tougher stance on North Korea than his predecessor. He demanded a reorientation of the Ministry of Unification and strengthened military cooperation with the United States, including moving the THAAD missile defense system to full operability. Yoon also pledged to improve links with Japan, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reciprocal. Biden, Kishida and Yoon will meet for the first stand-alone trilateral summit in August 2023 to to strenghten strategic cooperation.
Overall, over the past year, North and South Korea have adopted a less compromising stance, strengthened their alliances, and intensified their military provocations and preparations.
