A Study On The DPRK Policy Of The Obama Administration

The Obama administrations’ policy toward North Korea is an important policyissue. From the perspective of safeguard China’s peripheral security, the situation onKorean Peninsula becomes deteriorated after the Obama administration entered office,the United States policy on north Korea is the key variable to determine the situation onthe peninsula, studies on this topic will help China to deal with the problem of theKorean peninsula more specifically. From the perspective of promote the China-USrelations, the North Korea problem is an important issue in sino-us relations. Studies onthis topic will help to understand the cooperation and disputes between China and theUnited States policy on north Korea, facilitate the interaction between the two sides, thiswill help the two countries to develop a new type of relationship between majorcountries. From the perspective of the United States policy on North Korea itself, alongwith the North Korean nuclear issue highlighted, the U.S. government’s policy on northKorea has experienced four stages, such as George Bush, Clinton, George w. bush andObama. Compared with its predecessors, there is obvious differentiation in theObama administrations’ policy toward North Korea. Therefore, the author intends tocarry out systematic research on this subject. This thesis includes five parts:Chapter1, the New Situation of the DPRK Policy Environment of the ObamaAdministration. Policy environment is a country that faced the specific time and spaceenvironment in the process of formulating and implementing foreign policy. It is the external factors which affects a country’s foreign policy. Considering that TheObama administrations’ policy toward North Korea does not only involves the bilaterallevel between the U.S. and North Korea, but also an important part in the strategy of theKorean peninsula and Northeast Asia. Therefore, the author dissects the New Situation ofthe DPRK Policy Environment of the Obama Administration in three levels, such asNortheast Asia, Korean peninsula, as well as North Korea. The new situation ofNortheast Asia regional environment includes: China’s accelerated rise, theimplementation of the Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy, and the strategic adjustment ofother actors in Northeast Asia. The regional environment of the Korean peninsula centrearound the both sides of the Korean Peninsula and peripheral powers, specificallyaddressed the new dynamic between the two sides, such as the comparison of power,policy adjustment, the future of the relationship, and the new trend of the policyadjustment by the peripheral powers, and their interaction. Korean national level mainlyconcentrate on the new trend of the nuclear issue, domestic situation and foreign policy.Chapter2, the Goals and Means of the DPRK Policy of the Obama Administration.Policy objectives is the result of a government want to achieve by its foreign policy,policy instruments means the actual use of power resources by a government, they areboth internal factors affecting a country’s foreign policy. The goals of the DPRK Policyof the Obama Administration can be read from crosswise and the longitudinal aspects.Looking horizontally, the policy objective covers security, economic and political fields.Looking Vertically, the policy objectives across two levels, includes the "response" and"utilize". It is necessary to deal with the "threat" caused by North Korea in these areas,but also take North Korea as a pivot to implement the Northeast Asia as well asAsia-Pacific strategy of the United States, to expand the interests of the United States inthe Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. In terms of policy means, the author firstlyanalyzes the basis for policy means, that is the power resources which the Obama administration can rely on in the process of implementation of policy on North Korea.And then analyzes the six options that its policy toward North Korea could take,discovered that the Obama administration abandoned three options, such as theacquiescence for nuclear power of North Korea, launch a preemptive military strike, aswell as engage North Korea in bilateral negotiations. It chooses three policy meanstoward the DPRK, such as the regime change by pressure, pressure North Korea toreturn to the Six-party Negotiations, as well as manage and contain.Chapter3, the implementation process of the DPRK Policy of the ObamaAdministration. This chapter focuses on the main content of the DPRK policy of theObama administration from the time perspective. The study found that theimplementation process is not linear, static, but can be roughly divided into four stages,such as the formation, development, adjustment and continue of the original policy. Theyear of2009is the initial formation of the policy, the DPRK policy of the Obamaadministration completes the transformation, from the initial design of a more idealizedto back to reality gradually. In2010, taking the opportunity of the "Cheonan" sank andthe Yeonpyeong Island shelling, the already tough policy becomes more rigid.This establishes the foundation for the "return to Asia" strategy of the Obamaadministration. Experienced in2010after a tense, since the beginning of2011, the USand the DPRK adjust their policy for own purposes, make the dialogue as the maintheme in the process of handling their bilateral relations. Ultimately, the United Statesand the DPRK reached a "2.29" protocol after three rounds of negotiations. However,the agreement ruptured about ten days later, because of their different views onlaunching satellites.North Korea launched of the satellite successfully in2012, and thencarried out a third nuclear test, the United States, South Korea and Japan also did notback down, the North Korean nuclear crisis was upgraded to a war crisis. After thisround of crisis, the US policy toward North Korea once again return to the hard-line, and presents a number of new features.Chapter4, the implementation dimension of the DPRK Policy of the ObamaAdministration. This chapter focuses on the main content of the DPRK policy of theObama administration from the spatial perspective. The implementation dimensionrevolves around three levels, namely the global level, regional level and the level of theUnited States itself. Among them, the regional level is the most important foundation ofthe DPRK Policy of the Obama Administration. At this level, there are not only USallies such as Japan and South Korea, but also regional powers such as China. Inparticular, while there is a strong coordination among US, Japan, and South Korea,China’s policy toward the DPRK has significant differences from the US.Therefore, Ihave divided the regional level into alliance level and the US-China level.Specifically speaking, at the global level, the Obama administration is more focused onthe means of multilateral international institutions to deal with North Korea. The use ofinternational non-proliferation regime to constraint North Korea’s nuclear behavior;relying on the United Nations to put pressure on North Korea’s nuclear and humanrights issues; divert the function of Six-Party Talks from engage to put pressure onNorth Korea. In alliance level, the Obama administration on the one hand to strengthenextended deterrence, to fulfill US security commitments to allies. The other hand, makeuse of North Korean threat, to upgrade bilateral alliance to and enhance trilateralcooperation among the US, Japan and South Korea.In the US-China level, Obamaadministration mainly coordinated with China on two issues, one is the North Koreannuclear issue and the other is the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula. Now, thehuman rights issues is also increasingly important. Finally, the level of response of theUnited States itself has become the fortification and supplementation to the DPRKPolicy of the Obama Administration.Chapter5, the assessment of the DPRK Policy of the Obama Administration and China’s response. This chapter focuses on the assessment of the results of the Obamaadministration’s policy toward North Korea, analyze the effectiveness of the Obamaadministration’s policy toward North Korea acquired. By comparing the effectivenesswith the stated policy goal, in order to measure the achievement of its policy objectives.Assessment concluded that the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s policytoward North Korea has made mainly in the "utilize" level. It has extended US interestsin the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia by North Korean issue, but did not fullyachieve the intent of the policy. The effectiveness in the "response" level achieved islimited. After systematic study of the Obama administration’s policy toward NorthKorea, the ultimate purpose of this paper is China how to deal with it. To improve therelevance and feasibility of the suggestions, the author analyzes the impact exerted byObama administration’s North Korea policy to China. At last, the author givesrecommendations from three aspects, such as the denuclearization of the KoreanPeninsula, safeguard peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, as well as the restartof the six-party talks.