Against The Limits: Two North Korean Nuclear Crisis In The United States Policy Toward The Dprk,

After the WWII, the Korea Peninsula was divided into two parts by the Iron Curtain of Cold War. Given the significant military and strategic value, Korea Peninsula was inevitably involved in the battlefield of United States and Soviet Union. From then on, the U.S.-DPRK ties entered new and volatile period. To contain the spread of socialism, United States had implemented a half-century"full containment policy"toward North Korea during the Cold War, which resulted in the increased hostility between two parties. Since the end of Cold War, U.S.-DPRK ties has maintained the same game mode of"repetitive conflict and engagement". During the period, to solve the North Korea's nuclear crisis has become the key factor of the development of U.S.-DPRK ties.After the Cold War, the volatile U.S.-DPRK ties can be mainly ascribed to a series of predicaments caused by"North Korea's nuclear problem", because the problem involves with the important security interests of six major powers in North-east Asia continent. The changing North Korea policies of United States own too much to the right game and capricious configuration of interests of the six powers. During the Clinton administration, United States had pursued a diplomacy featured by engagement as primary means, containment as subordinate means. But the policy didn't yield the expected results and hadn't fundamentally solved the"North Korea's nuclear problem". After Junior Bush took the office, the North-Korea Policies of United States could be divided into two stages at a threshold of"Berlin-Talks". The first stage is called as the coercive diplomacy characterized as containment as primary, engagement as subordinate means, while the second stage is the flexible and compromise diplomacy. In general, the first stage's diplomacy was in vain in that it directly turned North Korea into a nuclear country and increased the difficulties of negotiation of United States and hindered the process of dismantling DPRK's nuclear weapon. In second stage, the adjusted policy is characterized by pragmatic, flexible and inconsistent factors, to name just a few. Bush administration has upheld the principle of"action for action, words for words"to urge North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and yielded some positive effects. In terms of current situation of Korea Peninsula, it proves the direct talks within multilateral framework conducted by the late stage of Bush administration didn't meet the goal of maintaining the stability of Korea Peninsula and the uncertain results of nuclear inspection still can't tell the prospect of complete abandonment of nuclear programs of North Korea.In a foreseeable future, Obama administration will be more likely to inherit the"full engagement"policy left by the late stage of Clinton administration on the basis of the diplomatic legacy of Bush administration. However, according to traditional mode of Democratic Party's diplomacy, it still can't eliminate the possibility for Obama administration to pursue a harder diplomacy towards North Korea, if the"full-engagement"policy can't yield the expected results.