The US and North Korea have had strained relations since the Korean War divided the peninsula in the 1950s. While the US maintains troops in South Korea, North Korea has increasingly developed its nuclear weapons program in recent decades. Recent summits between US President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have aimed to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and formally end the Korean War. However, full denuclearization remains uncertain and longstanding tensions continue due to sanctions and military presence on both sides of the border.

1. US-North Korea Relations
OPINION - Presentation by Hall 3, IIT-KANPUR

2. History
USA
After WW2, UN divided Korea
along 38th parallel with US taking
South and Soviet taking North.
Korean war takes place with no
conclusion and severing North
and South relation.
US stationed troops in DMZ, still
present now after 70 years
George Bush put NK into “Axis of
evil” .
North Korea
Kim II-Sung becomes leader,
transformed NK into a
communist state with a
planned and a public
economy.
With the development of
nukes, relation took a new
dive with worst phase during
Bush Administration.
Problem
So what started as a
communism vs
capitalism ideology has
now taken some dirty
turns leading to global
tension and proliferation
of nuclear warheads.

3. Korean War
● In June 1950 communist North Korea invaded South Korea.
The United States came to the aid of South Korea at the
head of a United Nations force composed of more than a
dozen countries.
● Communist China joined North Korea in the war in November
1950, unleashing a massive Chinese ground attack against
American forces. The Soviet Union also covertly supported
North Korea.
● After three years of fighting, the war ended in a stalemate
with the border between North and South Korea near where
it had been at the war’s beginning.

4. Japanese Rule,
KPG failed to gain
recognition
1949
WW2 ends, cold
war begins, Korea
divided along 38th
parallel
1950-53
Korean War,
severing
ties
1991
Soviet Union
Falls
1991-
2002
NK begins
Nuclear
Programm
e
1910-45
North Korea
leaves NPT
2003
2003-
2009 2011 2015 2017 2018
Six party
talks,
unsuccessful
Kim
Jong-il
Died
US
imposes
new
sanctions
on NK
NK fires
missile over
Japan, test
hydrogen
bomb
Singapore
talks

5. “A regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its
citizens”
- George H.W Bush, on North Korea intention of pulling out of NPT

6. Challenges deep-dive
Denuclearization
Nuclear Warheads
● The most important
issue and most
contentious.
● Kim announced of
denuclearization
after Singapore
talks but still a
cloud of
uncertainty.
Sanctions
Failing economy
● Most powerful
leverage US has
against NK.
● Decline in GDP in
2017 by 3.5%.
● Near collapse in
1990s due to
famine.
U.S Troops
Demilitarization
● About 28,000 US
troops in S.Korea
even after 70 years
of Korean War.
● Major condition put
forward by Kim in
response to
denuclearization.

7. Nuclear
Diplomacy
A Balance of Terror
The difference between approach of
US towards Syria and North Korea
is due to presence of nukes in NK,
they are the reason US is restraining
from invading North Korea and
make a middle east like situation
there.
Well-known philosophies of nuclear
diplomacy is mutually assured
destruction (MAD).

8. Political Detention
North Korea while unable to give any real damage to US
other than threatening them with nuclear warheads has
adopted the game of Political detention very well. A few
reasons can be :
● Since a majority of those visitors are journalist or
college students , DPRK doesn’t want them to go to
west and show the photos highlighting their
poverty and harsh treatment NK people have to go
through.

9. Human Rights violations in North Korea
North Korea is one of the world’s most
repressive states. The government restricts all
civil and political liberties for its citizens,
including freedom of expression, assembly,
association, and religion. It prohibits all
organized political opposition, independent
media, civil society, and trade unions. The
government routinely uses arbitrary arrest and
punishment of crimes, torture in custody, forced
labor, and executions to maintain fear and
control.

10. Influence of
China over NK
Generally regarded as the ‘Big Brother’
of North korea , with sanctions and
isolation from majority of globe, NK
has turned towards China for majority
of its trade and advise on global
relations.
Thus China has been greatly involved
with foreign relation of NK with US ,

11. Panmunjom Declaration
- “ Peace, Prosperity and Unification”
First High level talks between DPRK and RoK after a long period of time. It happened during
during the 2018 inter-Korean Summit on the South Korean side of the Peace House in the Joint
Security Area.
Denuclearization - Both countries agreed to have a
common goal of nuclear-free korean peninsula.
Promote common prosperity and reunification of
Korea - Family reunions, Common Sporting
Forces on international front, Connecting and
modernizing rails and roads.
Ending of war - The two leaders solemnly declared
before the 80 million Korean people and the whole
world that there will be no more war on the Korean
Peninsula

12. Trump administration brought a much needed dialogue between DPRK and US
which had been stagnated for a long period of time
Singapore Summit
● The US pledged "security guarantees" to
the North and Mr Kim recommitted to
"complete denuclearisation".
● Joint efforts to build a lasting and stable
peace regime on the Korean Peninsula
● Their commitment to recovering
POW/MIA remains, including the
immediate repatriation of those already
identified.
.

13. Vietnam Summit
US President Donald Trump has
confirmed that he'll hold his second
summit with North Korean leader
Kim Jong-un in Vietnam on
February 27 and 28.
"If I had not been elected president
of the United States, we would right
now, in my opinion, be in a major
war with North Korea," Trump said
during the State of the Union
Address.

14. Negotiations
and
Provocations
There appears to be an inverse correlation
between U.S.-DPRK diplomacy and the
frequency of North Korean provocations in
last 25-years.
The ratio of negotiations to provocations is
lowest under North Korean leader Kim
Jong-un from 2012 to the present.

15. US elections and DPRK
● The provocation window
has grown more narrow
over time. That is, North
Korean missile/nuclear
tests and other major
kinetic provocations have
clustered increasingly
closer to U.S. elections
● Under Kim Jong-un, the
average window for a North
Korean provocation
bracketed around all U.S.
national elections (i.e.,
before or after) is 3.5
weeks.

16. Poll: Far more trust generals than Trump on N. Korea,
while two-thirds oppose preemptive strike

17. Comparison
Despite being one of the poorest
country NK spends a whole lot in
its military giving a huge blow to
economy
With SK and NK starting out same, at present
while South Korean GDP(per capita) is same as
France, NK’s GDP has reduced owing to its
communist mindstate.
So while its
southern
counterpart
being counted
as one of most
developed
Asian
Countries ,NK
is still
struggling to
provide its
people with
proper food
and amenities.

18. A photo by NASA , clearly showing how underdeveloped North Korea is, only the
capital - Pyongyang gets electricity while it’s a luxury for citizens .

19. Bigger Picture
The dynamics of policies
happening in NK and US deal
with much complexity.
Major Player
● China : With US troops
stationed in SK, there is a
hindrance to Chinese dream
of exerting influence over
whole South China Sea
● Japan : Their reln. with NK is
quite sour with Kim
threatening to launch nukes,
presence of nukes also strain
their relations with US

20. Bottlenecks for Peace
The Korean War which began in 1950, ended in 1953 with an armistice rather than
a peace treaty. North Korea wants South Korea and the United States to declare
the war to be formally over, as a sign that hostilities have ended and to build trust.
North Korea expressed their willingness to speed up their denuclearization
process if actions are taken to form a new U.S.-North Korea relationship,” South
Korean President Moon Jae-in said.
A peace treaty would require participation from the US, which led UN troops from
over 55 nations in the war. Trump administration members and others, however,
fear that doing so would end the political justification for US forces being
stationed in South Korea, as about 28,000 troops currently are. (China, for one,
would love to see those troops gone or reduced, and as North Korea’s largest
trading partner has considerable sway with the Kim regime.)

21. Bibliography
1. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/R41259.pdf
2. https://beyondparallel.csis.org/25-years-of-negotiations-provocations/
3. Survey of US citizen on TRump handling of North Korea taken by Washington Post.
4. Photo showing nightime of Korean Peninsula taken by NASA.
5. https://www.dhakatribune.com/world/asia/2018/04/27/panmunjom-declaration-key-points
6. www.mofa.go.kr/eng/brd/m_5478/view.do?seq=319130&srchFr=&amp%3BsrchTo=&amp%3Bsr
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2=0&amp%3Bcompany_cd=&amp%3Bcompany_nm=&page=1&titleNm=