Special Issue on North Korea's Nuclear Politics

INTRODUCTION
- Donald C. Hellmann (pp. 5~9)

NORTH KOREAN STRATEGIES IN THE ASYMMETRIC NUCLEAR CONFLICT WITH THE UNITED STATES
- Kyung-Ae Park (pp. 11~47)

The traditional structural-power approach falls short of accounting for North Korea's nuclear strategies. Contrary to conventional wisdom, North Korea has been engaged in balancing acts against the United States, employing internal balancing, soft balancing, and omnibalancing strategies, while deviating from bandwagoning, the dominant strategy of small states. The present analysis of the North Korean case also demonstrates that a state's behavior is not merely a response to the international structure of power distribution, but also a reaction to a state's domestic situation. In addition to changes in the international power structure and perceived security threats, North Korea's flagging economy, guiding ideology, competition with the South, and regime legitimacy have all compensated for the asymmetry of power between North Korea and the United States.
Key words: North Korea-U.S. relations, nuclear weapons, East Asian security

NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR STRATEGY AND THE INTERFACE BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
- Samuel S. Kim (pp. 49~85)

Pyongyang's nuclear strategy has been significantly shaped by the perceived U.S. nuclear threat since the early 1950s, portending a quest for a self-reliant existential nuclear deterrent for the DPRK. This article tracks and explains how Washington's nuclear threat cast a long shadow that underpins the evolution of North Korea's nuclear thinking and strategy over the years. North Korea's nuclear strategy is being shaped as much if not more so in Washington than in Pyongyang. Just as importantly, the implementation process of major denuclearization agreements has seemed ready-made to be hijacked by war hawks in domestic politics in Washington. In pursuit of these lines of reasoning, the article proceeds in three sections. The first section appraises the interplay of Washington's nuclear threats and Pyongyang's songun ("military-first") politics in the evolution of North Korea's nuclear thinking and strategy over the years. The second section offers a critical analysis of the changing dynamics of domestic politics in the making and unmaking of key denuclearization accords in the course of the first and second U.S.-DPRK nuclear standoffs. The third section brings the common-security engagement back in charting an alternative pathway toward a working peace system in the Korean peninsula.
Key words: North Korea, North Korea-U.S. relations, East Asian politics, East Asian security, nuclear weapons

NORTH KOREA'S BRINKMANSHIP AND THE TASK TO SOLVE THE "NUCLEAR DILEMMA"
- Yong Chool Ha and Chaesung Chun (pp. 87~109)

This article makes three points. First, the protracted negotiations of the Six Party Talks brought about unintended consequences of the nuclear dilemma: Technically, North Korea made advances in nuclear development as the talks progressed, and domestically the prolonged talks made it difficult if not impossible for the North Korean regime to move sequentially from the resolution of nuclear issues to domestic reforms for survival. Second, the Six Party Talks are not an effective format for resolving North Korean nuclear issues due to the contending positions of China and South Korea, on one hand, and the United States and Japan, on the other. Instead, a combination of bilateral and multilateral negotiations needs to be adopted. Third, the nuclear talks should go beyond the resolution of nuclear issues to deal with "normalizing North Korea," which includes a future regional order, system reforms in North Korea, and peaceful coexistence between North and South Korea.
Key words: East Asian security, South Korea, North Korea, military spending, arms race, nuclear weapons
Key words: North Korea, East Asian security, Northeast Asia, nuclear weapons

INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS IN NUCLEAR POLITICS
- Myoung-Kyu Park and Philo Kim (pp. 111~135)

This article aims at explaining the changes in inter-Korean relations since inauguration of the new administration in South Korea in 2008. By focusing on leadership, regime, and social factors in the two Koreas, the article emphasizes the social dynamics that are shaping inter-Korean relations despite the nuclear dispute. In the political realm, a tough stance toward North Korea's nuclear ambition by the South's government has created a sense of frustration within the North Korean leadership, causing tension and conflict with the South. In the social realm, however, both Koreas have been pressured by political and economic hardship and a growing sense of crisis among their citizens. From that latter perspective, however, the prospects are that the two Koreas will move toward more cooperative behavior. The role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the United States will be important in achieving that outcome.
Key words: North-South Korea relations, Korean unification, East Asian politics

THE KOREA NUCLEAR CRISIS AND THE CHANGING SINO-DPRK RELATIONSHIP
- Jian Cai (pp. 137~158)

When the DPRK conducted its first nuclear test on October 9, 2006, the second Korea nuclear crisis reached a climax, but almost everybody still believed in that North Korea was just playing a political card. After it conducted a second nuclear test on May 25, 2009, most people changed their thoughts and concluded that the Six Party Talks which aimed to solve the crisis are a total failure. This article analyzes the reasons and purposes for the DPRK's nuclear tests, considers the origin and development of the Six Party Talks, and concludes that the talks, while frustrating to various parties, have not been a total failure since they were moving in the right direction. The article examines the changing Sino-DPRK relationship and concludes that China should develop a long-term strategy toward the Korean peninsula and change its diplomatic policy toward the DPRK.
Key words: Sino-DPRK relations, nuclear weapons, six-party talks, East Asian politics

INSTITUTIONS OF INTEREST REPRESENTATION AND THE WELFARE STATE IN POST-DEMOCRATIZATION KOREA
- Yeong-Soon Kim (pp. 159~189)

This article examines how the institutions of interest representation have affected the welfare state in post-democratization Korea. The characteristics of welfare politics in Korea since democratization are quite different from those of advanced welfare states. The argument here is that these characteristics are related to the flawed institutions of interest representation in Korea's newly created democratic system. The interest articulation and aggregation of welfare issues have been severely limited, since political parties do not represent socioeconomic interests in civil society appropriately and the social dialogue is paralyzed. These flawed institutions of representation have hindered the development of a comprehensive welfare state
Key words: South Korea, democracy, politics in East Asia, interest representation, welfare state