About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (January 12, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govebsg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: C o g e s o a R e s a r c S e r v i c Updated January 12, 2021 Diplomacy with North Korea: A Status Report Overview Since 2006, when the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea's official name) first tested a nuclear weapon, it has made significant advances in both its nuclear and missile programs, raising the threat it poses to the U.S. homeland and U.S. East Asian allies. In 2018, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un launched denuclearization talks that relied on summits and communication between the two leaders. Their effort departed from the bottom-up approaches undertaken by previous administrations. Trump and Kim exchanged more than 25 letters and held three meetings: in Singapore (June 2018); Hanoi (February 2019); and Panmunjom, on the inter-Korean border (June 2019). The Trump-Kim personal diplomacy reduced U.S.-DPRK hostility, which had flared in 2017 and raised alarm that war could break out. The diplomacy also may have helped preserve North Korea's self-imposed moratoria on nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests. Nevertheless, negotiations have stalled, and Pyongyang has enhanced its military capabilities, resumed short-range missile tests, rejected agreements it had reached in 2018 with South Korea, and expanded its efforts to evade international sanctions. Meanwhile, many critics argue that Trump's moves have weakened the U.S.-South Korea alliance. President-elect Joe Biden has indicated that he will seek a more traditional diplomatic approach toward North Korea, emphasizing working-level talks, should negotiations resume. Status of U.SDPRK Negotiations U.S.-DPRK diplomacy stalled after the February 2019 Hanoi summit, which broke down due to differences over the scope and sequencing of DPRK denuclearization measures required in exchange for sanctions relief. Since the June 2019 Panmunjom meeting, the United States and North Korea have held one round of official talks, in October 2019. U.S. officials say their North Korean counterparts refused to engage in additional negotiations. Under Trump and Kim, the two countries did not agree on denuclearization steps, whether an agreement will include DPRK missiles, or the mechanisms for verifying any agreement, including inspection and monitoring arrangements. China and Russia have called for lifting several categories of U.N. sanctions, a move the Trump Administration rejected as premature. In late December 2019, Kim announced there is no ground for North Korea to maintain its nuclear and long- range missile testing moratoria. Kim criticized the United States' continuation of sanctions, military exercises with South Korea, and sales of advanced military equipment to Seoul. Kim warned the world will witness a new strategic weapon to be possessed by the DPRK in the near future. Also in 2019, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence told Congress North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities, even as it seeks to negotiate partial denuclearization steps to obtain key U.S. and international concessions. If talks restart under Biden, U.S. negotiators-and Members of Congress conducting oversight-could face the question of whether to aim for incremental dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear program in step with gradual sanctions relief, or to try for a big deal and demand that complete denuclearization precede full sanctions relief. A related question is whether the United States would accept partial denuclearization as an outcome of talks. The possibility of sanctions relief is complicated by, among other factors, legal requirements to address a range of security, regional stability, human rights, and governance issues before sanctions can be suspended or altogether terminated. U.S. sanctions on North Korea target not just weapons development but also human rights abuses, money laundering, illicit weapons trade, international terrorism, and illicit cyber operations. Key Developments North Korea's Nuclear and Missile Programs Kim in 2018 publicly agreed to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, pledging permanent dismantlement of nuclear weapons production facilities in Yongbyon-an important nuclear site-as the United States takes corresponding measures. The DPRK has partially shut down some parts of its nuclear testing and missile launch sites. As U.S.-DPRK talks stalled, promises to allow inspections or completely dismantle them went unfulfilled. North Korea has not tested a nuclear weapon or test- launched ICBMs since November 2017, notwithstanding Kim's 2019 statement that the moratoria no longer hold. Since May 2019, North Korea has conducted over a dozen short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) tests, in violation of U.N. Security Council prohibitions, likely advancing the reliability and precision of its missile forces and improving its ability to defeat regional missile defense systems. In October 2020, North Korea publicly paraded a new ICBM and other new advanced military hardware. In January 2021, Pyongyang announced it aims to develop tactical nuclear weapons, deploy multiple warheads on a single missile, improve its ICBMs' accuracy, and launch a spy satellite. Achieving these goals may require testing. ittps://Crsreports.congress.gt

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most