Book Chapter

Assessing the Role of Security Assurances in Dealing with North Korea

| August 2012

This chapter examines the relationship between security assurances and North Korean nuclear decision-making by focusing on four key areas: key geopolitical shocks that had a major impact on the North Korean regime; main sources of security assurances for North Korea over its history; this volume's hypotheses on security assurances based on how North Korea reacted to geopolitical shocks; and conditions under which security assurances may be most effective in dealing with North Korea in the future.

"After conducting nuclear weapon tests in 2006 and 2009, North Korea has increasingly insisted that it has become the world's ninth nuclear weapon state. Many interpretations of North Korean nuclear decision-making leading to this situation are inadequate in explaining Pyongyang's nuclear behavior. While hostile U.S. policy is frequently cited by North Korea as the reason it needs a nuclear deterrent, a careful examination of nuclear behavior by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) reveals that even when the United States has offered explicit security assurances, North Korea has continued with its nuclear weapons development. This behavior raises important questions about our understanding of security assurances and North Korea's stated policy goals.

This chapter examines the relationship between security assurances and North Korean nuclear decision-making by focusing on four key areas...."

For more information on this publication: Please contact International Security
For Academic Citation: Park, John S.. “Assessing the Role of Security Assurances in Dealing with North Korea.” In Security Assurances and Nuclear Nonproliferation. August 2012.
189-218
.

The Author

Recommended
In the Spotlight
RSS
A detailed look at China’s development of a hydrogen bomb in fewer than three years, quicker than all other initial nuclear weapons states.
'New Cold Wars' are “more complex, more dangerous than the old one, because China and Russia are teaming up together.”
While U.S. media reports blame Iran and its drone attacks for “pouring gasoline on a region that is already in flames,” there's a lot more to the story, and “most of it reflects poorly on the United States.”
Most Viewed

Tags