Analyzing US Foreign Policy Regarding North Korea's Nuclear Program

This report examines the foreign policy relationship between the United States of America and North Korea, focusing on North Korea's nuclear program. The paper begins with an identification of the topic, a summary of the policy issue, its current status, and its importance. The second part of the report delves into the introduction of the policy, major issues facing each country, reasons for potential policy changes, and options to be considered. The report explores the pros and cons of each reform option, identifies the best option moving forward (adherence to the nonproliferation treaty), and concludes with a discussion on the impact of the US's hegemonic activities. The paper references various sources to support its analysis.

Running head: FOREIGN POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES AND NORTH KOREA
Foreign policy of the United States and North Korea
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Part 1: The Proposal.........................................................................................................................2
Identification of the topic.............................................................................................................2
Summary of the policy topic........................................................................................................2
Current status of the policy topic.................................................................................................2
Importance of the policy..............................................................................................................2
Part 2: The policy paper...................................................................................................................3
Introduction of the policy............................................................................................................3
Major issues facing the each country involved............................................................................3
Reasons for initiating changes to the policy................................................................................4
Options to be considered.............................................................................................................5
The pros and cons of each potential reform.................................................................................5
The best option moving forward..................................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................6
References:......................................................................................................................................7

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Part 1: The Proposal
Identification of the topic
The purpose of this paper is to examine the foreign relation of the United States of
America with that of North Korea in the light of the nuclear programme of North Korea.
Summary of the policy topic
The policy of nuclear programme is one of the most concerning issues of the modern
world. In this age of no war policy, the nuclear armaments pose a significant threat to the rivals
of a nation since they are always under the assumption that they might be attacked (Rinehart,
Nikitin and Avery 2016). Thus, it severely restricts the behavior of the nations concerned and
this amounts to a strain in their foreign policy relationship. The United States of America sees
North Korea a threat because of the differences that exists between them based on their political
ideology.
Current status of the policy topic
The country of North Korea wants to embark on a journey of building up its nuclear
armaments because of the fact that it is its rival. The United States of America, is a nuclear
empowered country. However, the United States wants to place a restraint on the part of North
Korea since it is of the view that North Korea believes in aggression and might launch a war
against her without rational thinking (Husenicova 2018).
Importance of the policy
The foreign policy of the United States of America against North Korea in the light of its
nuclear programme is essential as it would guide their relationship to an amicable sphere and
prevent the outbreak of any war.

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Part 2: The policy paper
Introduction of the policy
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and marking the end of the ideal of socialism, the
United States of America has arisen has the global leader in the world. It has been able to
propagate the ideas of its liberal economy and a liberal political ideology on to the different
nation states of the world. Socialism as a political ideology relegated to the back ground while
the ideas of capitalism ad a liberalized global economic market, promoting free trade and
commerce, gained wide spread support. Thus, the world saw the onset of the aspects of
globalization whereby the all the countries of the world were integrated in to one common global
village, marking the intermingling of culture.
In order to counteract the evil designs of the United States, North Korea has embarked on
a journey of amassing nuclear arsenal. However, in order to maintain world peace and harmony,
the United States has taken on a rigorous foreign policy role towards North Korea, whereby the
weapons of the country are kept in a limiting manner (Kim 2016).
Major issues facing the each country involved
The major issue which is posed in front of the United States with regards to the expansion
of the nuclear programme of North Korea is that it has the potential to affect the stability of the
region and adversely affect the nonproliferation strategy of the globe (Hendricks 2019). After the
end of the Second World War, the nuclear countries of the world came together to ensure that
they are able to limit the production of their weapons of mass destruction so that in the event of a
war, they are not tempted to resort to their use.

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On the other hand, the major issue facing North Korea is that it conceives the United
States to be its ideological rival. It is under the assumption that the United States wants to
stockpile its own nuclear arsenals while limiting the nuclear armaments of the other countries of
the world. This would give the advantage to the country to pose a serious threat to the peace of
the world in the event that there is an outbreak of another war (French 2019).
Reasons for initiating changes to the policy
The United States has always considered the nuclear programme of North Korea to be
requiring its utmost attention. The concern has led to the leaders of the country to assess the
situation for nearly three decades and make changes in their policy as and when the international
situation demanded.
Towards the end of the twentieth century, the United States wanted to instill the
principles of non-proliferation among the countries of the world and to introduce the scope for
the maintenance of human rights in the globe. The liberal values of capitalism and the
importance of equality and liberty were sought to be spread in the world, primarily in the context
of the Asian countries as they were psychologically aligned to the ideology of socialism (Bleiker
2018). A policy of comprehensive engagement was established during the administration of
George Bush and the IAEA Safeguard Agreement was signed between the two countries.
However, situations took a turn during the Presidency of Barack Obama in whose term North
Korea conducted nuclear tests without the prior permission of the hegemon (Onderco and
Wagner 2017).
The situation further changed in the twenty first century, primarily with the coming of
Donald Trump to power. Trump assumed office as the President of the United States of America
on 2016 and he under took a stringent policy of retaliation towards North Korea (Anderson

6FOREIGN POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES AND NORTH KOREA
2016). It imposed economic sanctions against the country and this has led to the degeneration of
their relationship.
Options to be considered
One of the significant option which can be considered in the context of the foreign policy
relationship between the United States and North Korea in the light of its nuclear programme is
that both the countries should limit their nuclear arsenal at the same time. A measure of checks
and balances should be imposed where the countries are held accountable to the other for the
extent of nuclear armaments held by them (Hur 2018).
A second option to be considered is that they take the aid of the United Nations who
would act as the overseer of their armaments. In the event that any country fails to follow the
guidelines of the United Nations, the United Nations can take stringent actions against it (Lim
2016).
The pros and cons of each potential reform
The advantage of using the first option is that a measure of accountability can be
imposed. However, its disadvantage lies in the fact that the countries would not accept this as
their national interests would be compromised. It would make them vulnerable in front of the
other in the field of defence and security (French 2019).
The advantage of the second option is that they would be held accountable in front of the
United Nations and therefore, their security would be maintained. However, a disadvantage is
that the United Nations might not get the time to keep a regular check on the powers (Hur 2018).

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The best option moving forward
The best option to move forward in the context of the two countries would be that they
both adhere to the terms of the nonproliferation treaty.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be observed that there are many countries around the world who
believe that the hegemonic activities of the United States of America are adversely affecting their
own political interests. One such country is that of North Korea. The leaders of North Korea
believes in the principles of socialism and is found to be quite averse to the elements of
capitalism. In this essence, it considers the United States as a dictatorial power who wants to
establish its undisputed control over the entire globe. Thus, it has embarked on a nuclear
programme which is sought to be resolved by the United States.

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References:
Anderson, Nicholas D. "Explaining North Korea's nuclear ambitions: Power and position on the
Korean Peninsula." Australian Journal of International Affairs 71.6 (2017): 621-641.
Bleiker, Roland. "Dealing with a nuclear North Korea: conventional and alternative security
scenarios." Critical Security in the Asia-Pacific. Manchester University Press, 2018.
French, Shannon, et al. "Talking Foreign Policy: North Korea Summit." Case W. Res. J. Int'l
L. 51 (2019): 237.
Hendricks, Craig Darren. "Political culture and nuclear proliferation: Juche and North Korea’s
foreign and nuclear policy." (2019).
Hur, Mi-yeon. "North Korea’s Second Nuclear Crisis and Inception of the SPT." The Six-Party
Talks on North Korea. Palgrave, Singapore, 2018. 21-82.
Husenicova, Lucia. "US Foreign Policy Towards North Korea." International Studies:
Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal (IS) 22.1 (2018): 65-84.
Kim, Dongsoo. "The Obama administration’s policy toward North Korea: the causes and
consequences of strategic patience." Journal of Asian Public Policy 9.1 (2016): 32-44.
Lim, Jiyoung. "US Foreign Policy Toward North Korea's Nuclear Development: Its Failure and
Available Options." (2018).
Onderco, Michal, and Wolfgang Wagner. "The ideational foundations of coercion: political
culture and policies towards North Korea." European Political Science Review 9.2
(2017): 279-302.

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Rinehart, Ian E., Mary Beth D. Nikitin, and Emma Chanlett-Avery. "North Korea: US Relations,
Nuclear Diplomacy, and Internal Situation." Congressional Research Service, CRS
Report for Congress. Vol. 41259. 2016.