TMC Topic Guide

North Korea

Created: March 2021

Last Updated: July 5, 2022

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See additional topic guides on The Iran Nuclear Program and U.S.-Iran Crises and Nuclear Weapons and Politics.

Note: This guide contains substantial coverage on the U.S. approach, under presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, towards the North Korean government and their nuclear program. This guide also contains coverage of North Korea’s domestic politics and foreign relations with China, Japan, Russia, Singapore, and South Korea.

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Table of contents

United States-North Korea relations

Biden administration approach

Trump administration approach

Regional relations

Nuclear program

Humanitarian issues

Governance

Katharine H.S. Moon, “North Korea blew up a ‘useless’ joint liaison office. The real surprise was who gave the order,” June 26, 2020.
Sheena Chestnut Greitens, “North Korea’s leader may be in ill health. Here’s what we know about instability in the world’s most secrunited statesetive regime,” April 22, 2020.
Van Jackson, “The rumor of Kim Jong Un’s purge: Why it matters even if it’s wrong,” June 6, 2019.
Samuel Ramani, “The North Korean government is getting weaker and more vulnerable. That should scare you,” August 4, 2015.

United States-North Korea relations

Biden administration approach

Patricia M. Kim, “North Korea conducted more missile tests. What happens next?” March 27, 2021.

Trump administration approach

Mira Rapp-Hooper, “Trump plans to meet with Kim Jong Un next month. Here’s what not to expect,” January 24, 2019.
Seo-Hyun Park and Il Hyun Cho, “The Pentagon has officially canceled military exercises with South Korea. Here’s what comes next,” June 21, 2018.
Eric Grynaviski, “Trump just canceled a high-stakes summit. In 1972, Nixon almost did the same,” May 27, 2018.
Michael C. Horowitz and Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Why nuclear war with North Korea is less likely than you think,” May 24, 2018.
Dan Reiter, “Should you worry about a U.S. war with North Korea? Not really,” May 24, 2018.
James H. Lebovic, “Will toughness on Iran help Trump with North Korea? Here are three reasons to doubt it,” May 21, 2018.
Sarah Kreps, Elizabeth N. Saunders, and Kenneth Schultz, “No, Trump can’t count on a hawk’s advantage in making peace with North Korea,” May 10, 2018.
James H. Lebovic, “For Trump, the art of the deal isn’t the art of diplomacy,” March 14, 2018.
Elizabeth Saunders, “President Trump talked tough on North Korea in the State of the Union. Here’s where things stand,” January 31, 2018.
Tanisha M. Fazal, “A new Korean war would kill more U.S. military personnel than you might think,” January 8, 2018.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, “The 5 things we learned from Trump’s Asia trip,” November 15, 2017.
Andrew Yeo, “Four reasons Trump’s Asia trip is so important,” November 4, 2017.
Steven J. Brams, “If Trump doesn’t want a nuclear war with North Korea, a ‘No First Use’ pledge might work better than threats,” October 16, 2017.
Or Rabinowitz, “Four paths to a ‘strategic miscalculation’ over North Korea,” September 27, 2017.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, “Would Trump attack North Korea? Here’s what we learned from his ‘Rocket Man’ speech at the U.N,” September 20, 2017.
Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Five things Trump did on his summer vacation: A foreign policy roundup,” September 4, 2017.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, “Here are 5 takeaways from Trump’s startling nuclear threats against North Korea,” August 21, 2017.
Roseanne McManus, “Rhetorical ‘fire and fury’ can help the U.S. globally — if the president has enough backing at home,” August 9, 2017.
Henry Farrell, “North Korea just called Trump's bluff. So what happens now?” August 9, 2017.
Sheena Chestnut Greitens, “Can Trump count on Manila to put pressure on North Korea? 3 points to know,” May 16, 2017.
Danielle Lupton, Roseanne McManus, and Keren Yarhi-Milo, “Trump is trying to send North Korea a message. He’s got a long way to go,” April 26, 2017.

Summits

Patricia M. Kim, “U.S.-North Korea talks just broke down. Here’s what might happen next,” October 11, 2019.
Patricia M. Kim, “These are U.S. allies’ 3 big questions for the second Trump-Kim summit,” February 25, 2019.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, “Trump plans to meet with Kim Jong Un next month. Here’s what not to expect,” January 24, 2019.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, “The Singapore summit’s three big takeaways,” June 12, 2018.

Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Trump and Kim will finally meet, but don’t expect much to change. Here’s why,” June 11, 2018.
Eric Grynaviski, “So Dennis Rodman may be in Singapore for the summit. That’s not as strange as it sounds,” June 9, 2018.
Eric Grynaviski, “Trump just canceled a high-stakes summit. In 1972, Nixon almost did the same,” May 27, 2018.
Matthew Kroenig, “Making sense of the canceled North Korea summit,” May 25, 2018.
Michaela Mattes and Jessica L.P. Weeks, “The U.S.-North Korea summit could be Trump’s ‘Nixon-to-China’ moment,” May 10, 2018.
John Delury, “Pompeo’s visit suggests the Trump-Kim summit is on track. Here’s why Kim is ready to talk,” April 18, 2018.
Andrew Yeo, “Why North Korea wants a summit with Trump,” March 14, 2018.

Diplomacy

Andrew Yeo and Danielle Chubb, “Will raising human rights issues really derail nuclear negotiations with North Korea?” June 27, 2018.
Marcus Holmes and Keren Yarhi-Milo, “So Trump’s meeting Kim Jong Un after all. Here’s why face-to-face diplomacy matters,” June 11, 2018.
Andrew Kydd, “Promises on North Korea are easy to make but hard to keep. Here’s why,” June 7, 2018.
Elizabeth N. Saunders, “This is why North Korea reacted so strongly to Bolton’s mention of the ‘Libya model’,” May 17, 2018
Andrew Yeo, “Why North Korea wants a summit with Trump,” March 14, 2018.
Patricia Kim, “The 3 big obstacles to success if Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un meet,” March 11, 2018.
Mark S. Bell, “North Korea won’t give up its nuclear weapons. The U.S. has three good reasons to talk anyway,” March 9, 2018.
Steven J. Brams, “If Trump doesn’t want a nuclear war with North Korea, a ‘No First Use’ pledge might work better than threats,” October 16, 2017.
James D. Fearon, “The big problem with the North Koreans isn’t that we can’t trust them. It’s that they can’t trust us.” August 16, 2017.

Conflicts

Michael Dolski and Sarah Wagner, “The U.S. has brought home remains of its Korean War dead. It’ll be years before we know whose remains those are,” August 20, 2018.
Tanisha M. Fazal, “A new Korean war would kill more U.S. military personnel than you might think,” January 8, 2018.
Nadiya Kostyuk and Yuri M. Zhukov, “Would cyberattacks be likely in a U.S.-North Korea conflict? Here’s what we know,” November 21, 2017.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, “Here are 5 takeaways from Trump’s startling nuclear threats against North Korea,” August 21, 2017.
Erik Gartzke and Jon Lindsay, “The U.S. wants to stop North Korean missiles before they launch. That may not be a great idea,” March 15, 2017.
Brandon Valeriano, “Five questions (and answers) about North Korea and the Sony hack,” December 12, 2014.

Regional relations

China

Leif-Eric Easley, “Why China takes a middle-of-the-road policy toward North Korea,” February 28, 2019.
Rush Doshi, “Three takeaways from Kim Jong Un’s trip to China,” March 30, 2018.
Joseph Torigian, “Don’t count on China to rein in North Korea. Here’s why,” February 17, 2017.

Japan

Mike Mochizuki, “Three reasons why Japan will likely continue to reject nuclear weapons,” November 6, 2017.
Zack Cooper, “Abe is back to talk to Trump — with a list of Japan’s concerns about North Korea,” June 6, 2018.
Yuki Asaba, Tetsuro Kobayashi, and Atsushi Tago, “The U.S. military made a short video to improve relations between Japan and South Korea. It could actually work,” March 13, 2017.

Russia

Samuel Ramani, “Why Russia is openly violating sanctions against North Korea,” April 23, 2018.
Samuel Ramani, “Why is Putin backing North Korea? To build up Russia as a great power,” July 26, 2017.

Singapore

Sheena Chestnut Greitens, “Can Trump count on Manila to put pressure on North Korea? 3 points to know,” May 16, 2017.

South Korea

Seo-Hyun Park and Il Hyun Cho, “The Pentagon has officially canceled military exercises with South Korea. Here’s what comes next,” June 21, 2018.
Steven Ward and Paul Musgrave, “How do we know if U.S. troops in South Korea are a viable tripwire? A new survey suggests it’s not that simple,” June 8, 2018.
Il Hyun Cho and Seo-Hyun Park, “South Korea has reason to be skeptical — and optimistic — about dialogue with North Korea,” May 16, 2018.
Bridget Coggins, “North and South Korea still have a long path ahead, most of it uncharted,” May 1, 2018.
James Goldgeier, “What North and South Korea can learn from German reunification,” April 28, 2018.
Hyuk Kim, “What will North and South Korean leaders talk about tomorrow? Here’s a cheat sheet,” April 26, 2018.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, “Five reasons the Olympics haven’t solved the North Korea problem,” February 22, 2018.
Aram Hur, “The next ‘Korea problem’ may be about the growing identity divide on the peninsula,” February 21, 2018.
Oriana Skylar Mastro and Arzan Tarapore, “Yes, North Korea could drive a wedge between the U.S. and South Korea,” January 12, 2018.
Yuki Asaba, Tetsuro Kobayashi, and Atsushi Tago, “The U.S. military made a short video to improve relations between Japan and South Korea. It could actually work,” March 13, 2017.
Celeste Arrington, “South Korea’s president was impeached. North Korea is increasingly threatening. Here’s what you need to know,” March 12, 2017.
Andrew Kydd, “Korean unification now!” May 1, 2014.

Nuclear program

Jane Vaynman and Vipin Narang, “There are signs North Korea is still working on its nuclear program. Here’s why ‘denuclearization’ is so problematic,” June 30, 2018.
Andrew Yeo and Danielle Chubb, “Will raising human rights issues really derail nuclear negotiations with North Korea?” June 27, 2018.
Michael C. Horowitz and Elizabeth N. Saunders, “Why nuclear war with North Korea is less likely than you think,” May 24, 2018.
Dan Reiter, “Should you worry about a U.S. war with North Korea? Not really,” May 24, 2018.
Or Rabinowitz, “North Korea says it’s dismantling its nuclear test site. How significant is that?” May 23, 2018.
Mark S. Bell, “North Korea won’t give up its nuclear weapons. The U.S. has three good reasons to talk anyway,” March 9, 2018.
Alex Bollfrass, “Did the U.S. underestimate North Korea’s weapons program? It’s not that simple,” January 16, 2018.
Malfrid Braut-Hegghammer, “Why North Korea succeeded at getting nuclear weapons — when Iraq and Libya failed,” January 2, 2018.
Steven J. Brams, “If Trump doesn’t want a nuclear war with North Korea, a ‘No First Use’ pledge might work better than threats,” October 16, 2017.
Ed Goldring, “Will U.N. sanctions stop North Korean missile tests? Don’t count on it,” August 9, 2017.
Erik Gartzke and Jon Lindsay, “The U.S. wants to stop North Korean missiles before they launch. That may not be a great idea,” March 15, 2017.
Samuel Ramani, “These 5 things help make sense of North Korea’s nuclear tests and missile launch,” February 18, 2016.
Erik Voeten, “Want to know when North Korea’s next aggressive act will be? Check British newspapers and a birthday calendar,” February 11, 2016.

Sanctions

Andrew Yeo, “Why further sanctions against North Korea could be tough to add,” July 5, 2022.
Henry Farrell, “Trump confused everyone by canceling North Korea sanctions. The explanation may have been a coverup,” March 26, 2019.
Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, “Here’s why Kim Jong Un put sanctions first — and why North Korea is not Vietnam,” February 28, 2019.
Van Jackson, “How reality-show diplomacy with North Korea could backfire,” January 10, 2019.
Samuel Ramani, “Why Russia is openly violating sanctions against North Korea,” April 23, 2018.
Jeremy Youde, “North Korea has a big tuberculosis problem. It’s about to get worse,” April 12, 2018.
Stephan M. Haggard, “Those North Korea sanctions might be working. Here’s why,” April 6, 2018.
Ed Goldring, “Will U.N. sanctions stop North Korean missile tests? Don’t count on it,” August 9, 2017.

Humanitarian issues

Andrew Yeo, “North Korea is addressing the pandemic in its ‘style.’ That means leaving a lot of people hungry,” November 17, 2021.
Andrew Yeo and Danielle Chubb, “Will raising human rights issues really derail nuclear negotiations with North Korea?” June 27, 2018.
Jeremy Youde, “North Korea has a big tuberculosis problem. It’s about to get worse,” April 12, 2018.