North Korea’s Nuclear Program Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the North Koreas Nuclear Program. Answer: Introduction North Korea has been causing serious threats to the rest of the world with their nuclear weapons. The conflict is not only between South Korea and USA but also with other western countries and the concerns of other countries like China, Japan and Russia are also associated with it so powerful countries cannot make any move like they did with Iraq (Boyle, 2017). North Korea has already announced to the world that they possess multiple nuclear weapons. Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty North Korea demands USA to sign the peace treaty that should pronounce that USA will not attack North Korea and also they demand compensation as they are not selling nuclear weapons to other countries (Chanlett-Avery Rinehart, 2014). North Korea is too concerned for their self defense and they have promised to the world to continue making the nuclear weapons and holds USA as the primary enemy. On the other hand USA demands North Korea should stop making and exporting nuclear weapons and should join the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty again (Gleeson, 2016). China will not allow and support any USA military action against North Korea and South Korea is in fear that another Korean war might bring severe damage for both the countries. Currently North Korea is trying to export nuclear weapons to other enemy countries of USA like Iran (Haines, 2016). USA and Japan are struggling to stop North Koreas illegal exporting. Hostile relationship with most countries Korea has always been in a hostile relationship with other countries, especially with USA and South Korea. Though their nuclear weapon has been making much noise now, but the country has been experimenting and creating chemical, biological and nuclear weapons since its independence. North Korea had signed the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) in 1985 but when the International Atomic Energy Agency wanted to inspect their atomic waste North Korea threatened to quit the treaty (Nikitin, 2013). In the 1994 Geneva USA-DPRK agreement North Koreas promised to abandon the nuclear testing was shattered with their enriched Uranium production (Seo, 2015). Failure of Six Party Talks The Six Party Talks was involved USA, China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and North Korea proved to be futile and North Korea continued its nuclear testing (Bajoria Xu, 2013). In 2002 American President George W. Bush marked North Korea as an evil nation planning for mass destruction by acquiring nuclear weapons along with Iraq and Iran (Lee, 2017). As a result North Korea withdrew its membership from NPT and in 2003 the country announces it has active nuclear weapons. North Koreas successful testing of the nuclear program worried the United Nations and they demanded immediate suspension of the program. In the Six Party Talk in Beijing North Korea refused to allow any monitoring by international inspectors in the potential nuclear experiment sites. In 2013 under the leadership of Kim Jong Un the nation conducted nuclear test for the third time (Kim, 2015). Last year North Korea successfully tested a hydrogen bomb and on September 3rd of this month it has tested another nuclear weapon for the sixth time (Ye Hee Lee, 2017). More severe than World War II A group of monitoring inspectors examined the reaction of the testing and concluded that the strength of the bomb that North Korea has tested is twelve times than the Little boy of 1945 (Berkowitz Steckelberg, 2017). Most thinkers and politicians see believe that USA and Northeast Asia cannot fully be secured until the communist dictatorship of Kim Jong Un stops producing nuclear weapons. At the World War II the Japanese nuclear bombing by the United States shocked every global citizen with its mass destruction (Walker, 2016). After the nuclear bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki the world has not experienced any nuclear bombing but North Korea is demonstrating the power to repeat the damage with is progressing nuclear experimentation and successful testing. Highly powerful arsenal After discussing the gradual development of North Koreas nuclear testing it can be said that North Koreas threat to the global security is getting worse every day. It was reported that by 2015 North Korea had fissile element capable of producing more than 20 missiles (Aljazeera.com, 2016). The nation has increased its capacity in alarming quantity in last few years and still continues. The director general of IAEA Yukiya Amano published a report in 2017 stating that the Uranium plant in Yongbyon has been doubled in size by the North Korean government (Iaea.org, 2017). The Institute for Science and International Security has calculated that the Plutonium and Uranium enrichment and production is able to providing enough material for producing six nuclear weapons within 1.5 years (The Guardian, 2016). The way the North Korean Government is enhancing the enrichment facilities the production capacity will increase by 50%. However these are all estimation from distance as the country maint ains extremely high security and isolation so exact amount of nuclear strength is yet to be discovered. It is estimated that in the worst scenario, by 2024 North Korea can achieve about 100 nuclear weapons (Tobey, 2017). Therefore the threat that North Korea creates for the world right now right now will be increased by 5 times. As currently the country has limited nuclear weapons now it has limited capability but it can easily be assumed that if such amount of power the country achieves in reality, it will adapt more aggressive attitude towards the world. with more nuclear power the dictatorship of Kim Jong Un will have more authority and strength over most other countries and the threats will be more frequent and to more number of countries. Demonstration of Power This is highly potential to encourage the nuclear war within Korean Peninsula and with other western countries that North Korea sees as enemies like USA. Such attacks have already been initiated by North Korea like the North Koreas artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island and Republic of Koreas Cheonan sinking in 2010 (Ku, 2015). With increasing nuclear weaponry Pyongyang is likely to increase such attacks in more numbers. The weapon export and delivery system capability will get increased as well by more fissile materials. The country will not require much military strength with the increased arsenal. The country is increasing its nuclear testing as it was twice in the last year but before that it was three years back. North Koreas range of ballistic missiles will be in more number as lighter, smaller weapons will be produced with more investment. North Koreas progression to more developed nuclear weapons can be seen with their capability of producing lithium 6 (Micallef, 2017). Harmful allies North Korea will also increase the sales of nuclear weapons around the world. The country has already exported various weapons to multiple countries. North Korea has sold Libya harmful missiles, plutonium reactor to Syria and trying to sell nuclear weapons to Iran (Kerr, Nikitin Hildreth, 2014). With a smaller infrastructure, creating nuclear weapon is costly compare to army capability but with larger structure the cost will be decreased. To earn trust and investments it is likely that North Korea will sell more number of nuclear weapons. The country has been testing the developed nuclear weapons at regular interval but as the speed of development has increased the chance of accidents has also increased. The risk major accidents or launching are higher with more and more experiments. The Corruption The growth in fissile material may increase the chance for nuclear theft. Though North Korea maintains strict policies but the country is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. The Transparency International ranked North Korea in the 174th in the list of corrupt nations (Sile, 2017). It has often been on news that Kim Jong Un has fires many of his defense officials because of corruption. Above that the involvement of Russia makes the security apparatus highly risky. All these are making the North Korea nuclear problem very complicated and potentially harmful for the rest of the world. Addressing danger of North Koreas Nuclear Program The threats created by the North Korean nuclear program can be addressed in various ways. From USA to UN North Korea has been offered several inducements to stop their nuclear weaponry program. North Korea managed to get money and necessary nuclear materials for years. Under the leadership of Kim Jong Un North Korea will continue making nuclear bombs as they believe it to be their ultimate survival strategy. North Korea took lesson from Iraq war where Saddam Hussein had to die before he could acquire nuclear bombs. Kim Jong Un does not want to end up like Saddam Hussein (Fish, 2017). So Kim Jong Un initiated nuclear program that is advancing fast. So far they have developed multiple nuclear weapons and launched satellites now they are trying to set the nuclear weapon at the top of the rockets and control well they can destroy a city by just pushing a button. Strategy of diplomatic self isolation Kim Jong Un has taken a strategy of diplomatic self isolation that has made his actions unpredictable for neighboring countries and USA (Snyder, 2017). Russia invited North Korea in 2015 Moscow summit but North Korea rejected to be present, above that the nation has distanced itself from China to the world media. The recent nuclear development is significantly influenced by the recent deteriorated relationship with China and Russia. It has become extremely challenging for rest of the nations and media to calculate North Koreas nuclear capability and what exactly it is planning next. The nations are forced to be engaged in miscalculation and wrong assumption which drive the threatened nations to take wrong decisions. An attack can be initiated on North Koreas nuclear facilities but this is highly risky. This initiative might actually start a new war. Wall street journal has advocated that the intercontinental ballistic missiles must be stopped (Terry, 2017). The American Democratic Pa rty has been trying to minimize the nuclear activities since the 80s. During the Korean War USA supported South Korea with nuclear weapons but after few years they had taken back their weapons from South Korea. The USA could give back the nuclear weapons to South Korea. During Cold War, American President George W. Bush withdrew the weapons. The role of USA Administration The USA administration has been addressing the North Korean nuclear issues for long. According to Mike Pence, the Vice President of the USA declared that the strategic patience can no longer be an effective strategy to handle North Koreas ever growing nuclear weaponry (Davenport, 2017). USA has been adapting newer strategies which include military action. The Australian defense minister Ms Bishop also supported and stated that Trump administration is seeking creative and new strategies to address the North Korea challenges. Administrations from various countries have expressed the similar concern that the North Korean nuclear activities are causing serious threat to the global peace through their intentional provocative behavior. The THAAD Program Donald Trump has rejected the Patience strategy developed by Barrack Obama as that has only resulted in stalemate and actually encouraged the illegal nuclear programs. South Korea and the USA collaboratively developed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or THAAD system that can obstruct the warheads coming from North Korea (Sankaran Fearey, 2017). The THAAD program not proves a strong alliance between the USA and South Korea but also serious challenge to North Korea. Prevention of the relationship with their allies The American Government has also demonstrated its strength through diverting a navy strike group. The way North Korea is increasing their ally forces with Iran, Libya or Syria USA is also engaged in developing allies with countries like Australia. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has also suggested China that it should enhance economic and diplomatic pressure over North Korea so that it can reconsider its nuclear strategies (Murphy, 2017). China acts as one of the few allies of North Korea and provides all the direct investment; the maximum of its exports is controlled by China as well. Therefore China holds the power to act as the mediator for any peace initiatives. The concerned nations find China has the decisive power so it must address the issues created by North Korea. The USA are pressurizing the Chinese banks so that they minimize their support to the North Korean elites as they are exploiting the help and making the ordinary citizens suffer. However after the Balli stic Missile test China has announced to cut their imports from North Korea. The American Government has influenced the United Nations Security Council to sanction the iron and coal export of North Korea so that their export earnings get affected and Russia and China showed support (The Guardian, 2017). Humanitarian aid for North Korean Citizens USA has been taking many initiatives to address the nuclear issues and implementing various strategies to prevent them. Despite North Koreas nuclear threats USA has been sending humanitarian aid to starving North Koreans. South Korea is also taking initiatives in developing peace platform as declared by South Koreas newly elected president. Therefore an international collaboration has been taking shape in order to prevent the North Korea from misusing its nuclear power. North Koreas Denuclearization The powerful international nations are searching various methods to pressurize North Korea to become denuclearized. The developed nations should ensure Pyongyang that the sanctions that have been expanded would be relieved if North Korea initiates effective steps towards denuclearization. The international inspectors can enter in the country by rejoining the International Atomic Energy Agency which will ensure the protection for the rest of the country. Role of China in the prevention China proves to be the most significant source of economic leverage for North Korea. Current American President Donald Trump is pressurizing China to desist North Korea (Lovelace Jr, 2017). China is afraid that the fall of Kim Jong Uns regime will result in many complications for the country. The millions of refugees will turn towards China for help and the lack of a powerful competitor will lead USA to become potential threat for China. The USA and South Korea are convincing the World Bank to help the country finding out the trade options and economic opportunities that the denuclearization has to offer. This is becoming effective as the USA and South Korea has convinced the president of China Xi Jingping to enhance the sanctions on North Korea (Miller, 2017). However this can only be materialized if the military troops of the United States will not be permanently placed. They must ensure that the collaboration between the USA and South Korea will be intact after the unification. On the other hand China has been demanding for resumption of a diplomacy that is North Korea centered and figure out the processes of peaceful transformation of the country. Conclusion The nations in the Six Party Talks must should address this and make North Korea understand that the regime change would become the only option for the denuclearization. The parties must develop a pathway that is capable of diplomatic normalization, peaceful coexistence, better governance and denuclearization. USA and South Korea are identifying various levels of provocations that North Korea has been causing and developing a concrete protocol that can be implemented in the ground level and responds swiftly. The Terminal High Altitude Air Defense program jointly developed by South Korea and United States of America possesses effective defense mechanism that can counter North Koreas nuclear weaponry. References Bajoria, J., Xu, B. (2013). The Six Party Talks on North Koreas Nuclear Program.Council on foreign relations,30(9), 2013. Berkowitz, B., Steckelberg, A. (2017).Analysis | North Koreas nuclear tests by the numbers.Washington Post. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/north-korea-nuclear-yield/?utm_term=.b094e88b73c9 Boyle, P. (2017). United states: The real nuclear threat.Green Left Weekly, (1149), 3. Chanlett-Avery, E., Rinehart, I. E. (2014). North Korea: US Relations, Nuclear Diplomacy, and Internal Situation.Current Politics and Economics of Northern and Western Asia,23(3), 333. Davenport, K. (2017). North Korea Review Completed.Arms Control Today,47(4), 32. Fish, I. (2017).Let's stop calling North Korea 'crazy' and understand their motives | Isaac Stone Fish.the Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/13/stop-calling-north-korea-crazy-understand-motives Gleeson, E. (2016). The Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Political Aspects of Nuclear Power in a Modern Context. Haines, J. R. (2016). Foreseeable, foreseen, ignored: is Iran advancing its missile program at home while offshoring its nuclear program to North Korea?.FPRI, E-Notes, https://www. fpri. org/articles/2016/01/foreseeable-foreseenignored-iran-advancing-its-missile-program-home-while-offshoring-its-nuclear-program-north-korea. IAEA and DPRK: Chronology of Key Events | IAEA. (2017).Iaea.org. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/dprk/chronology-of-key-events Kerr, P. K., Nikitin, M. B. D., Hildreth, S. A. (2014). Iran-North Korea-Syria ballistic missile and nuclear cooperation.Current Politics and Economics of the Middle East,5(1), 1. Kim, J. U. (2015). Inflated Hope, Unchanged Reality: China's Response to North Korea's Third Nuclear Test.Asian Perspective,39(1), 27-46. Ku, Y. (2015). Transitory or Lingering Impact? The Legacies of the Cheonan Incident in Northeast Asia.Asian Perspective,39(2), 253-276. Lee, S. (2017). The Art of the Deal for North Korea: The Unexplored Parallel between Bush and Trump Foreign Policy.International Journal of Korean Unification Studies,26(1). Lovelace Jr, D. C. (Ed.). (2017).Terrorism: Commentary on Security Documents Volume 145: The North Korean Threat. Oxford University Press. Micallef, J. (2017).North Korea's Nuclear Program: Are We Heading for a Showdown?.Military.com. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/06/05/north-koreas-nuclear-program-are-we-heading-showdown.html Miller, S. (2017).Donald Trump, Xi Jinping of China agree to maximize pressure on North Korea: White House.The Washington Times. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/18/donald-trump-xi-jinping-china-agree-maximize-press/ Murphy, K. (2017).China should cut off North Korea oil supply, Turnbull says.the Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/31/china-should-cut-off-north-korea-oil-supply-says-turnbull Nikitin, M. B. (2013). North korea's nuclear weapons: Technical issues.Current Politics and Economics of Northern and Western Asia,22(3), 377. North Korea able to produce 20 nuclear bombs: experts. (2016).Aljazeera.com. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/09/north-korea-produce-20-nuclear-bombs-experts-160914045813448.html North Korea may have more than 20 nuclear weapons, warns thinktank. (2016).The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/15/north-korea-may-have-more-than-21-nuclear-weapons-warns-thinktank Sankaran, J., Fearey, B. L. (2017). Missile defense and strategic stability: Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea.Contemporary Security Policy, 1-24. Seo, J. (2015). Agreements Without Commitments? The US Congress and the US-North Korea Agreed Framework, 19942002.The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis,27(1), 107-122. Sile, A. (2017).These are the world's most corrupt countries.CNBC. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/24/these-are-the-worlds-most-corrupt-countries.html Snyder, S. (2017).Addressing North Koreas Nuclear Problem.Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.cfr.org/report/addressing-north-koreas-nuclear-problem Terry, S. M. (2017). Hazards on the Road Ahead: The United States and the Korean Peninsula.Asia Policy,23(1), 21-28. Tobey, W. (2017).The North Korean Nuclear Threat Is Getting Worse By the Day.Foreign Policy. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/04/07/the-north-korean-nuclear-threat-is-getting-worse-by-the-day/ US seeks UN ban on North Korea exports of coal, iron, lead and seafood. (2017).The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/05/us-seeks-un-ban-on-north-korea-exports-of-coal-iron-lead-and-seafood Walker, J. S. (2016).Prompt and utter destruction: Truman and the use of atomic bombs against Japan. UNC Press Books. Ye Hee Lee, M. (2017).North Koreas latest nuclear test was so powerful it reshaped the mountain above it.Washington Post. Retrieved 19 September 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/09/14/orth-koreas-latest-nuclear-test-was-so-powerful-it-reshaped-the-mountain-above-it/?utm_term=.2dc6b3592da9