Background

At the end of World War II in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union each helped liberate Korea from Japanese control. The two countries agreed to divide Korea at the thirty-eighth parallel into two occupation zones.  The zones would later become North Korea (backed by the Soviet Union and China) and South Korea (backed by the United States). North and South Korean leaders each wanted to reunify the peninsula under their own leadership and thought that they could do so with the support of their backers. This led to the Korean War, a three-year conflict that started when North Korea invaded the South in an attempt to take control of the entire peninsula. The military conflict ended with an armistice in July 1953. To date, there has been no peace treaty to officially end the war. Throughout much of the Cold War, the two Koreas, each backed by a superpower, competed politically, economically, and militarily for control of the entire peninsula. This struggle has continued to the present day. 

North Korea’s leaders have tried to develop nuclear weapons since at least the mid-1950s. They were impressed by the power of the atomic bomb that the United States used on Japan. North Korea was also on the receiving end of U.S. nuclear threats during the Korean War. Because of this, North Korean leaders came to see nuclear weapons as a way to ensure survival and enhance their status. This desire for nuclear weapons became even more pressing following the end of the Cold War when the Soviet Union collapsed. Without the support of its former ally, North Korea found itself in a more vulnerable position. By the early 1990s, South Korea had a much larger economy, a better international reputation, and an increasingly powerful military. It was also a young democracy and U.S. ally. North Korea, by contrast, was in economic ruin, militarily weak—at least in terms of conventional, nonnuclear, military power—and largely isolated from the rest of the world (other than China). 

North Korea’s continuing nuclear development became a growing concern for many countries in the 1990s when North Korea threatened to pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons technology. Initially, efforts to negotiate with North Korea over nuclear weapons produced some success, with the country promising in 1994 to dismantle its nuclear program. By 2003, however, these efforts had collapsed. That year, North Korea, then led by Kim Jong-il (Kim Il-sung’s son), withdrew from the NPT, kicked out international inspectors from a nuclear facility, and prepared to conduct nuclear tests and declare itself a nuclear weapons state. Attempts to bring it back to the negotiating table through an initiative known as the Six Party Talks failed over the following years. On October 9, 2006, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test. The UN Security Council condemned the test and imposed sanctions in response.

North Korea’s continuing nuclear development became a growing concern for the United States in the 1990s. In 1992, Pyongyang threatened to pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Initially, efforts to negotiate the issue with North Korea seemed successful. In 1994, the country promised to dismantle its nuclear program. By 2003, however, these efforts had collapsed. That year, North Korea pulled out of the NPT, kicked out international inspectors from a nuclear facility, and prepared to conduct nuclear tests. Attempts to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table through an initiative known as the Six Party Talks failed over the following years, and on October 9, 2006, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test. 

North Korea’s longtime dictator Kim Jong-il died in 2011. The rise of his son Kim Jong-un, gave some analysts and politicians hope that North Korea would return to the negotiating table. However, North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear program. The country conducted nuclear tests in 2013, twice in 2016, and in 2017. 

So far, economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations, as well as individual countries, have not deterred North Korea’s commitment to developing nuclear weapons. As a result,  tensions on the Korean Peninsula have escalated. Although Kim has participated in denuclearization talks with both the United States and South Korea in recent years, these negotiations produced limited results. Since failed summits in 2019, North Korea entered a period of increasing diplomatic isolation. During this time, it repeatedly halted communications with both the United States and South Korea. The coronavirus pandemic along with ongoing sanctions has isolated North Korea economically as well. Despite strong financial pressures, North Korea continued to strengthen its nuclear development in 2020, testing short-range ballistic missiles and claiming that its nuclear ambitions are a deterrence strategy against U.S. threats.

Even amid growing isolation, North Korea is not completely without partners. China has opposed North Korean nuclear development, but also sees North Korea as a strategic buffer against a U.S.-allied South Korea. Accordingly, although it has supported some UN sanctions against the country, it has undermined others and advocated for some to be lifted. Observers also claim that China regularly helps North Korea evade sanctions by exporting goods like coal to the country. 

Russia also maintains a strategic relationship with North Korea. Like China, Russia has historically opposed North Korean nuclear development. However, Russia sees the country as a strategic partner in its opposition to the United States. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has sought closer relations with North Korea. Russia has specifically sought to buy artillery shells from North Korea to replenish its dwindling stocks. This renewed cooperation is especially concerning for the United States. Analysts fear that in exchange for military supplies, Russia could provide North Korea with rocket technology and materials that could enable the country to improve its missile program.