The North Korean Nuclear Issue after Administration Change in the White House: New Policy

44
DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2022-66-3-52-62
O. Davydov, 4545233@mail.ru
Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), 23, Profsoyuznaya Str., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation.

Received 24.10.2021.

Abstract. The article provides an analysis of the USA policy with regard to the DPRK under President Joe Biden administration. The issues related to transformation of American approaches are examined against the background of the President Trump failure to reach a Grand Bargain with Kim Chong Un on the nuclear problem. The peculiarity of the situation on the Korean Peninsula is that over the past quarter of century a variety of avenues and modalities have been explored and applied by the United States and other parties concerned to approach the resolution of nuclear problem. However, all of those attempts have proved to be unsuccessful so far. Although the Biden administration rolled out its North Korea policy review still in April 2021, the White House has yet to chart its clearly articulated strategy aimed at breaking the current crisis around nuclear issue. While distancing itself from the previous course for achieving final and comprehensive resolution of the nuclear problem, nowadays Washington is aiming at addressing more limited but practical goals related to ensuring the security concerns of both the United States and its Asian allies like Japan and South Korea. Particular attention is given to the new concepts of “arms control” and “risk management” in tackling nuclear issue which are gaining some popularity and have been broadly discussed by American academic community. The author argues that any move to accept directly or indirectly North Korea’s nuclear status and deal with it as nuclear power may have profound and negative impact on security situation on the Korean Peninsula and North East Asia as a whole. The only acceptable goal is to achieve nuclear disarmament of North Korea with proper verification measures although move forward towards that goal would require time and energy.

Keywords: nuclear problem, missile and nuclear weapons programs, denuclearization, security threats, arms control, Joe Biden, D. Trump, Kim Jong-un, the Korean Peninsula, the DPRK, the USA


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For citation:
Davydov O. The North Korean Nuclear Issue after Administration Change in the White House: New Policy. World Eñonomy and International Relations, 2022, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. 52-62. https://doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2022-66-3-52-62



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