scholarly journals The Korean Nuclear Imbroglio: Can India be a Muted Spectator?

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 17-34
Author(s):  
Sitakanta Misra

The presence of nuclear weapons in North Korea has complicated the strategic scenario in North Asia in general and Korean peninsula in particular. Unless the perceived ‗security deficit‘ with North Korea, due to its nuclear weapons‘ programme is amicably addressed, especially by reducing America‘s dominant presence in the region, demanding North Korea‘s denuclearisation would be unrealistic. Thus, the nuclear imbroglio in Korean Peninsula would endure. The outcomes of the Korean crisis will have serious spillover effects on South and East Asia. As a ‗rising‘ super power, India needs to reflect on her role in the unfolding strategic scene in its extended neighbourhood. This article provides an analysis of the strategic condition India is in and the impact of intervening in nuclear issues involving Super Powers in South and East Asia.

Author(s):  
A. Fenenko

During the last twenty years Washington has used the “counter-proliferation strategy” in Korean Peninsula. The Americans demanded that North Korea eliminate its nuclear arsenals and plutonium production facilities under the watchful eye of the “five powers’ commission” or the IAEA. Pyongyang's recent military provocation may now raise the specter of the United States or even South Korea delivering non-nuclear strikes against its nuclear facilities. That would give the USA an opportunity to raise the question of whether certain regimes should be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons or even to develop nuclear fuel cycle capacity. The last crises demonstrated that under certain circumstances North Korea could also initiate a military conflict in East Asia.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 293-311
Author(s):  
Sang-Jin Han

This dialogue addresses the global risk that broke out of the North Korean development of nuclear weapons and missiles. It starts from the brutal consequences of the national division for Korea and asks why North Korea has been so preoccupied with nuclear projects as has been found to be the case since the 1990s, and how much and why Kim Jung-un today differs from his father in terms of his future, and where the fundamental limit lies in Moon Jae-In’s as well as Trump’s approaches to Korean denuclearization and peace. The highlight of this dialogue is to explain the intrinsic difficulties for Donald Trump and Kim Jung-un in finding a reasonable solution to their respective demands for denuclearization and regime security, and explore the likely future of the Korean Peninsula from the vantage point of Kim Dae-jung’s Sunshine Policy and metamorphosis.


2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Noland

North Korea has been in a food emergency for more than a decade and in the 1990s experienced a famine that may have claimed one million lives. The crisis is distinguished by its protracted nature, and although conditions have eased somewhat in recent years, the situation remains precarious, and the country could lapse back into famine. This paper reviews the origins of the North Korean food crisis, the impact of the 1990s famine, and the prospects for resolution of the emergency in light of economic reforms initiated in 2002 and the subsequent diplomatic confrontation over the country's nuclear weapons program.


Asian Survey ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Kil Joo Ban

North Korea’s asymmetric provocations over the last decades can be classified into two periods: tactical provocations at sea in 1970–1990 and strategic (nuclear) provocations in 2000–2020. What is the logic underlying the North Korean imbroglio? And how does the former period differ from the latter? The first set of provocations was intended to shift the threat imbalance caused by a widening gap in conventional military capabilities into a balance of insecurity, where the weaker North Korean side faced South Korea and the combined ROK–US forces. The second set was intended to shift the balance of insecurity into an imbalance of terror while ensuring that only Pyongyang would be armed with nuclear weapons in the area. The “gray zone” discourse of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula (rather than North Korea) ended up bolstering North Korea’s nuclear program, while South Korea intensified only its conventional weapons program.


Author(s):  
Valeriy Denisov

The paper deals with the dynamics of home and foreign policy of North Korea under Kim Jong-un leadership, especially in last several years. Analyzed are new trends in and prospects for the development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula in the context of North Korea transformation into a full-fledged nuclear state. The author considers the return to party-centered political system (instead of total militarization under Kim Jong-il) as well as cautious economic reforms including introduction of some market mechanisms and attempts aimed at formation of basics of innovative economics. Factors hampering the development of the country, in particular, various economic sanctions, are also discussed, as well as prospects for diplomatic dialogue of North Korea with countries on North-East Asia. Contact between the leaders of North Korea and the USA are touched upon. The problem of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is critically considered. In conclusion, possible directions of cooperation between Russia and North Korea are outlined.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiqi Zhang ◽  
Ginger L. Denton

North Korea has repeatedly defied the international community with regards to its nuclear weapons programme. Many look to China for leverage to change North Korea’s behaviour. This study reviews the development of the China–North Korean relationship and conducts a statistical analysis on the impact of China’s influence on North Korea. Our analysis finds China’s leverage on North Korea to be nuanced. We maintain that North Korea has been wary of China’s influence. Complete isolation or pressure from China under certain conditions will render North Korea more resistant to China’s influence. We also suggest that the key to the North Korean issue is still in the hands of the United States and the entire international community through the use of an engagement strategy.


Asian Survey ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1090-1115
Author(s):  
Jonathan Ring ◽  
Wonjae Hwang

Is the Kim Jong-un regime genuinely pursuing a peaceful solution, to eventually give up its nuclear arsenal, after a series of summits and negotiations with the US and South Korea? We examine how military and economic power networks on the peninsula are associated with the prospect of North Korea’s denuclearization. North Korea could use its nuclear weapons program, an internal tool designed to promote national security and power, to build up power in both military and economic power networks. Drawing lessons and speculation from the literature on states’ hedging behavior, and using agent-based models, we explain that denuclearization as part of a hedging strategy would be a viable policy option for North Korea.


Significance The Trump administration has been keen to distinguish its nascent policy towards Pyongyang from that of former President Barack Obama. US officials have stated that Pyongyang should not “test” Trump, that he is willing to use force and that Washington will not adhere to a status quo posture on the Korean peninsula. Impacts There is nearly no precedent of states giving up nuclear weapons without dramatic internal and international political shifts. A nuclear North Korea proliferating weapons technology and equipment will remain a central concern for both Washington and Beijing. North Korea probably has a credible enough deterrent already to ward off an Iraq- or Libya-style external intervention.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Se Jin Jeung ◽  
Jang Hyun Sung ◽  
Byung Sik Kim

In assessing the impact of climate change, the use of a multimodel ensemble (MME) is required to quantify uncertainties between scenarios and produce downscaled outlines for the simulation of climate under the influence of different factors including topography. This study of climate change scenarios from 13 global climate models (GCMs) assesses the impacts of future climate change. Unlike South Korea, North Korea lacks studies using climate change scenarios of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and only recently did the country start the projection of extreme precipitation episodes. As such, one of the main purposes of this study is to predict changes in the average climatic conditions of North Korea in the future. The result of comparing downscaled climate change scenarios with observation data for a reference period indicates the high applicability of the MME. Furthermore, this study classifies climatic zones by applying the Köppen–Geiger climatic zones classification to the MME, which is validated for future precipitation and temperature. The result suggests that the continental climate that covers the inland area for the reference climate is expected to shift into the temperate climate. Moreover, the coefficient of variation (CV) in the temperature ensemble is particularly low for the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula, and, accordingly, a high possibility of the shifting climatic zone of the coast is predicted.


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