How Pyongyang's stance on the provision of light water reactors has evolved over the two North Korean nuclear crises

North Korea's interest in securing light water reactors in exchange for dismantling its nuclear programs in Yongbyon has long been at the heart of the international negotiations on the DPRK's denuclearization. Over the two nuclear crises on the Korean peninsula, North Korea raised the issue of a light water reactor project to engage Washington in order to address its diplomatic isolation in the post-Cold War era, the hostility it perceived from the Bush administration and the worsening energy crisis. However, lack of mutual confidence between the two countries as well as its growing dependence on the conventional energy assistance from outside have kept Pyongyang from moving first and forward in its denuclearization process. This study concludes with policy implications of this finding.