Nuclear Proliferation and Tension on the Korean Peninsula

The northern border is known as the DMZ (demilitarized zone) it is the most heavily armed border in the world. At 2.5 miles wide and 150-miles long the heavily mined and guarded area has served as a buffer zone since the cease fire in 1953.(3) The united States helps to guard the DMZ and protect the ROK with approximately 30,000 troops and an arsenal of military equipment. The country of South Korea is unable to maintain their own Nuclear weapons and relies on the US Militaries nuclear weapons program to match North Koreas Nuclear weapons program. Although the ROK army is well equipped and well trained it lacks the sheer numbers and nuclear capabilities to match North Korea. Therefore the ROK relies heavily on the United States military assistance. However with the ROK’s consistent progression and strong economy it’s only a matter of time before the ROK will no longer need the help of the USA. (4)

The U.S. helped to divide the Korean peninsula at the end of World War II, and then waged war against North Korea in the 1950s. Although the U.S. signed a peace agreement rather than a peace treaty with North Korea after the war, its policy toward the country changed. Instead of trying to overthrow the North Korea government, the U.S. government adopted a policy of containing communism. During the 1980’s, associations between North Korea and the U.S. start to take on a new diplomatic form. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program had become a pressing international issue

In the later fifties, the fear of the cold war and the use of nuclear weapons were still a common factor in America. With the rise of the space race, the fear of a nuclear attack increased throughout the states. Many Americans wonder if these nuclear tensions could have been avoided by President Kennedy. Regardless, these flare ups of tension continued to occur throughout his presidency.

World War II ended suddenly as America destroyed two Japanese cities not with traditional strategic bombing, yet with the extremely powerful atomic bombs. As a result of dropping the atomic bombs, the world was thrust into the nuclear age. Just a few short years after World War II, the Korean War started. The Korean War challenged many assumptions held about war within a nuclear era. Three of the assumptions challenged were that nuclear weapons would deter war, that war would not be limited, and finally, that the Soviet Union would be America’s next military enemy.

Since its origin in 1948, North Korea has been isolated and heavily armed, with hostile relations with South Korea and Western countries. It has developed a capability to produce short- and medium-range missiles, chemical weapons, and possibly biological and nuclear weapons. In December 2002, Pyongyang lifted the freeze on its plutonium-based nuclear weapons program and expelled IAEA inspectors who had been monitoring the freeze under the Agreed Framework of October 1994. As the Bush administration was arguing its case at the United Nations for disarming Iraq, the world has been hit with alarming news of a more menacing threat: North Korea has an advanced nuclear weapons program that, U.S. officials believe, has already produced one or

The purpose of this whitepaper is to develop a strategic plan that addresses the challenge articulated within the Air War College Warfighting Op Ed article, “U.S. Moves Missile Destroyers Near Korea -- Seoul Raises Tone; Washington Points To Need to Avoid Unilateral Action.” (Barnes, 2013) The Op Ed article summarized the policy intentions of the U.S related actions around the Korean Peninsula as North Korea increasing their provocative rhetoric and actions against its southern neighbor – South Korea. This author believes that the underlining problem highlighted in the article and ultimately the root cause of the crisis – North Korea’s strategy to keep itself relevant while it develops a Nuclear Deterrent. Within this paper, This

In Korea, the U.S. found itself unprepared to fight a conventional war having put far too much stock and time into the creation of nuclear weapons. Up to that point, two dominant views had prevailed in the U.S in regards to the future of war. One view held that the threat of a nuclear war would abolish warfare altogether through mutually assured destruction while the other reaction was that any new war would be a nuclear one and would lead to the destruction of the human race. The Korean war illustrated to Americans their previous miscalculations regarding the new face of war and also affirmed their fears of an inhuman and cruel communist enemy. It drew the Americans attention to the Soviet-Chinese-Korean effort that seemed to signal the drive

Since the end of the Korean War, the DMZ (de-militarized zone) has been maintained. The U.S. has 45,000 troops stationed in South Korea. Today, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il is trying to complete his goal of having nuclear weapons that he can launch into South Korea, Japan, or even the U.S. The U.S. is trying to get China, North Korea’s biggest trading partner and ally, to stop Kim Jong Il’s nuclear aggression. Japan and South Korea are two of America’s closest allies, and any attack on either of those countries will be perceived as an attack on the U.S., so our diplomas are working hard to avoid nuclear war, which could kill millions of

The North Korean government continues to financially fund the research and testing of nuclear and ballistic missiles. Little information is known about the North Korean nuclear program and has been made available to foreign nations due to the secrecy and isolation of international affairs. The threat of a nuclear strike from North Korea has become an increasingly serious matter for many nations including the U.S. and its Asian allies, Japan and South Korea. Currently, there are only nine nations known by intelligent analysis that possesses the resources to manufacture nuclear weapons which do include the U.S. However, North Korea is the only nation in the 21st century to conduct a nuclear missile test that has been reported by North Korean

In dealing with North Korea, there are no good options. Pyongyang has been working decisively towards building a nuclear arsenal for years now. Washington, DC has been working just as decisively towards preventing this nuclear arsenal from piling for just as many years, trying to control North Korea by issuing threats (of conducting future military exercises and preparing future economic sanctions) and side-eyeing China. Rinse and repeat. American policy towards North Korea can be summed up nicely with one of President Donald Trump’s many menacing Tweets about the country. This was sent out on April 11, 2017: “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.”

There also have been various reasons why North Korea revealed to us their HEU plan. One theory is that they wanted us to notice them. They did not want us to disengage and isolate from them.

Economist, America and China have agreed to work together to eliminate the threat of a nuclear North Korea. China and America have agreed to sanction that would have restrictions on the financial assistance to North Korea. However, even if tougher sanctions are enforced by the United States and China, this may not work to stop North Korea's ever growing nuclear program which may lead to the

North Korea, formally known as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a relic of the Cold War and the world’s last remaining totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship. Arguably the most secretive state in the world, North Korea poses a unique set of challenges to the world, especially to its democratic and capitalist neighbor, South Korea, formally known as the Republic of Korea (ROK). As one of the last remnants of the Cold War era, North Korea remains an anomaly of the international system due to its unpredictable nature and disregard for international norms. With the recent bombardment of the South Korean Island of Yeongpyong and the sinking of the warship Cheonan, tensions between the two Koreas are at the lowest point since

North Korea wants a nuclear arsenal to defend itself and to destroy countries that it finds unfavorable. Unfortunately, for North Korea, they have fallen under the ever-powerful eye of the international community, who have acted with the implementation of sanctions. These sanctions, though, are not affecting the efforts of North Korea, as the government does not care for their starving population and their crippled economy. If North Korea is not stopped now then nothing may happen and there may even be peace, unlikely as it is. On the other hand, the United States may soon be in yet another war, which may, for the first time in history, become a nuclear war. One thing is clear, the small state of North Korea may pose a big threat to our life, liberty, and pursuit of

Prior to the outbreak of the Korean war, US secretary of state Dean Acheson, declared that the US had no interest in Korea as it had no geopolitical significance. Korea having been divided after WWII as a result of Japanese occupation, was occupied in the northern half by Chinese communist forces. Following Acheson 's decleration that the US did not posess interest in the Korean pennisnular, the North Korean Communist government in Pyongyang orchestrated an attack on Southen Korea. North Korean forces, backed by the Soviet Union, outgunned the weaker and ill prepared South Korea, pushing them to retreat to the city of Pusan on the southern shore of the Korean peninsular within a few months. In response to this attack the United Nations Security Council condemned the attack as a breach of peace, subsequently the United Nations called on all of the nations to intervene to restore peace to the region. In line with the Truman Doctrine, which called for the defence of nations whose independence is threatened. At the time both concervative and liberal policy makers decided that the Soviet push into Southern Korea was threatening to spread communism as well as great threat to American efforts to democratise Japan. The US government feared that if the Soviet Union was not halted in their expansion that there would be a threat to American democracy. In order to combat this growing threat the National Security Council Paper NSC-68, a top secret paper sought to outline the US foreign