Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Relationships between North Korea and the US
Nuclear age and cold war
Nuclear age and cold war
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Relationships between North Korea and the US
Chronologically the North Korean Nuclear Program stems from the early 1950s; however, the program has its deeper origin back in 1989 during the conclusion of the Cold-War era. The year 1989 marked the deterioration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) as the primary financial supporter of North Korea. The North Korean nuclear program can be simplified into approximately four different phases over time; moreover, the chronologies of these four main phases predominantly address the unresolved tension between the United States of America and North Korea. This timeline also involves the influences of the other participants of the Six-Party Talks (which comprises of and is not limited to China, Russia, South Korea, and Japan). From 1956 to 1980 phase one was first and foremost the preparation and gathering of scientific knowledge to advance nuclear measures. Then from 1980 to 1994 phase two dealt with the progression and subsequent disruption of North Korea’s national plutonium manufacturing program. The years 1994 to 2002, or phase three, are the overlapping periods of the nuclear freeze that halted domestic production of radioactive material for military purposes. Finally phase four (from early 2002 to current times) covers the present concerns for North Korea returning to nuclear programs.
Numerous international organizations that advocate for basic human rights have accused the North Korea government for some of the most horrible human rights violations on record for any developed nation in recent years. The reports by Amnesty International state that due to the very strict limitations on the freedom to associate, express, and move, that North Koreans are subjected to arbitrary detention, torture, and other mistreatme...
... middle of paper ...
... nuclear weapon from North Korea because the Obama administration has legitimate fears that the North Koreans might want to utilize those weapons of mass destruction against its nation and people. On the other hand, North Korea firmly resists the idea of relinquishing their nuclear weapon stock because it helps them to bring in much needed revenue into the country. Based on numerous researches pertaining to North Korean in detail, there is little hope for a critical change in the regime due to the Kim’s long reign as the official dictators of North Korea. The country’s past experiences with famine, wars, oppressive dictatorship, and etc, there is a lasting impression of those events that makes it difficult for foreign nations like the United States of America to manage the course of events pertaining to North Korean Nuclear Program. In the end, only time will tell.
Blaine Harden, former national correspondent and writer for the New York Times, delivers an agonizing and heartbreaking story of one man’s extremely conflicted life in a labor camp and an endeavor of escaping this place he grew up in. This man’s name is Shin Dong-hyuk. Together, Blaine Harden and Shin Dong-hyuk tell us the story of this man’s imprisonment and escape into South Korea and eventually, the United States, from North Korea. This biography that takes place from 1982-2011, reports to its readers on what is really going on in “one of the world’s darkest nations” (back cover of the book), that is run under a communist state and totalitarian dictatorship that was lead by Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and currently lead by Kim-Jong un. In Escape from Camp 14, Shin shows us the adaptation of his life and how one man can truly evolve from an animal, into a real human being.
"North Korea: Human rights concerns." Amnesty Australia. Amnesty International, 28 Nov. 2006. Web. 2 May 2014. .
(migrationinformation, 2008). Citizens of North Korea do not attain the freedom to leave and experience other states. North Korea’s lack of freedom not only affects their citizens but also individuals from other countries in a negative sense, cutting off social bonds as a result. Not having mobility rights is an infringement on their negative liberty on account of the option of immigrating or emigrating not being available to them due to the laws placed by the government. In actuality, citizens “caught emigrating or helping others cross the border illegally are detained” (migrationinformation, 2008).
Database Center for North Korean Human Rights. "Prisoners in North Korea Today." Detention Facilities in North Korea Today (2011): 173+. NKDB. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
方玥雯[Fang Yue Wen] (2009). 北韓核武研發與東北亞安全:2002-2007. [The North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons and the Security in Northeast Asia: 2002-2007] in台灣[Taiwan]: 國立政治大學[National Cheungchi University] Retrieved 18 July, 2013 from http://nccuir.lib.nccu.edu.tw/handle/140.119/37029
Innocent people are being starved and tortured in secret North Korean camps that the government are trying to hide from the rest of the world. These prisoners are being deprived of nutritious meals, and are being forced to scavenge for barely enough food. These poor people are being deprived of basic human rights, and no person has let anybody know about it, until now.
The nuclear arms race was a race for nuclear dominance between the United States and the Soviet Union. It took place during the cold war. The definition of an arms race, made famous by nuclear arms race during the Cold War is a rapid increase in instruments of military power. A nuclear arms race is one where the instruments are nuclear weapons. The designs and testing of the first nuclear weapons during WWII by the US was called the Manhattan Project. The USSR was not officially informed about the Manhattan project until about 3 years later when Stalin was briefed at the Potsdam Conference on July 24 1945, this conference was 8 days after the first successful US test of nuclear weapons. They soon regretted telling the USSR from a fear that the USSR would inform German spies of the Manhattan Project or that the USSR would expect some insight on the technology of these weapons. In August 1945 a month after the Potsdam conference President Harry Truman ordered two bombs two be dropped on Japan, one hit Nagasaki and one hit Hiroshima. In the years after WWII the US had a monopoly on information about nuclear technology. Behind the scenes the USSR began work on their nuclear weapons but they were limited because of a lack of uranium. Then, the USSR discovered uranium in Eastern Europe which boosted their technology. nuclear experts predicted the Soviets would not have their first nuclear weapons until about 1955 but they detonated their first test nuclear weapon in 1949. The US tested their first hydrogen weapons at the Bikini Atoll in 1954. Both countries spent massives amounts on the quantity and quality of their weapons. For many decades the amounts of nuclear weapons and technology for the USSR and the US went back and forth. Curre...
Since the end of the Korean War, the United States has enacted policies to isolate and undermine the Kim Dynasty in North Korea. A key development took place in the past several decades where North Korea broke away from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to develop their own nuclear weapons and while lacking launch capabilities, they have been successful in their development. During this process, the United States took active policies to deter the North Koreans in pursuit of their goals. It is easy to assume that the United States took this stance in order to maintain a military edge in the region. But under closer examination, this neo-realist perspective does not explain why the United States pursued this policy. In reality, North Korea to this day does not pose a significant military threat, even with limited nuclear capabilities. A constructivist perspective is more able to explain US policy in this instance because it does not focus on sheer militaristic power. It takes into consideration the state's identities which drives their interests. The identities of the US and North Korea and the interactions between them drove both nations to the point of acquiring and deterring nuclear use.
Moreover, according to the same theory, relations among states are derived primarily by their level of power, which constitutes basically their military and economic capability, and in pursuit of the national security states strive to attain as many resources as possible. The theoretical model explains thus why the nuclear issue has eventually resulted in identifying with a security one, meaning that North Korea main concern is to assure its survivor, its efforts are in the first place finalized at meeting that target and its only means of pursuing it consists of the posing of the nuclear threat. North Korea finds itself stuck in an economic and, to some extent, diplomatic isolation; even though the financial sanctions leading to the just mentioned critical conditions have been caused by the government inflexible, aggressive and anti-democratic behavior, the regime has no other choice than restate and strengthen its strict and, apparently, definitive positions to ensure its survivor, since at the moment any concession or move toward a more liberal approach breaking the countrys isolation could easily cause a collapse of the whole system.... ... middle of paper ...
Since its origin in 1948, North Korea has been isolated and heavily armed, with hostile relations with South Korea and Western countries. It has developed a capability to produce short- and medium-range missiles, chemical weapons, and possibly biological and nuclear weapons. In December 2002, Pyongyang lifted the freeze on its plutonium-based nuclear weapons program and expelled IAEA inspectors who had been monitoring the freeze under the Agreed Framework of October 1994. As the Bush administration was arguing its case at the United Nations for disarming Iraq, the world has been hit with alarming news of a more menacing threat: North Korea has an advanced nuclear weapons program that, U.S. officials believe, has already produced one or two nuclear bombs. As the most recent standoff with North Korea over nuclear missile-testing approaches the decompression point, the United States needs to own up to a central truth: The region of Northeast Asia will never be fully secure until the communist dictatorship of North Korea passes from the scene. After threatening to test a new, long-range missile, Pyongyang says it is willing to negotiate with "the hostile nations" opposing it. But whether the North will actually forgo its test launch is anyone's guess. North Korea first became embroiled with nuclear politics during the Korean War. Although nuclear weapons were never used in Korea, American political leaders and military commanders threatened to use nuclear weapons to end the Korean War on terms favorable to the United States. In 1958, the United States deployed nuclear weapons to South Korea for the first time, and the weapons remained there until President George Bush ordered their withdrawal in 1991. North Korean government stateme...
Through the years the countries continue to take steps forward toward peace by allowing families to unite from the North and South. Then North Korea will make a decision with their threat of nuclear weapons that will separate the countries from one another and they are pulled away from each other again. The only solution to the political differences and to eliminate the threat of weapons of mass destruction not only to kill and injury the people of North and South Korea, but also of neighboring countries due to chemical and nuclear fallout that will have years of lasting negative health impact to the world. Not only on land, but our valuable resources in the ocean. If we reflect on our history with this type of nuclear destruction such as in Japan or in Russia we see how this impacts the immediate areas, people and for generations. The world needs to agree that the political leadership in North Korea should be moved. The options for removal are limited and pose significant risks for not only the Koreas’, but for the
Throughout the global media North Korea’s isolation and Harsh rule has become increasingly secretive, although some facts have been detected (“North Korea Profile”, 1). According to data collected from The Guardian, eighty-one out of one-hundred people in South Korea have access to the internet, yet in North Korea around .1 out of one-hundred people have access to the internet . Not only is the greater population of North Korea disconnected from outside sources, yet leaders in North Korea are also isolated from outside sources; putting themselves at a disadvantage. North Korea may launch a war, but they are unaware as to what they are up against because of its secrecy . Around one million are serving in the North Korean Army, but when South Korea’s army; combined with the U.S’s army (their ally), the ratio of the North Korean Army is signi...
Even some of the most authoritarian regimes around today allude to the fact that democracy is desirable. In the 2012 EIU's Index of Democracy, North Korea is ranked 167th in terms of level of democracy (the lowest ranked country on the index). Yet they mention democracy in their countries official name, “Democratic People's Republic of Korea”. Those outside of North Korea might look at this as some sort of sick joke, but it highlights peoples desire for fair and democratic process across the world. North Korea is an extreme case for lack of democracy, as well as an extreme case of government mandated censorship, but censorship is not limited to the low end of the democratic spectrum. It comes many shapes and forms and exists in some level in the majority of nations across the globe. This paper will outline and analyze ...
The nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War.(Nuclear Arms Race, Wikipedia)
In the face of uncertain developments in the Iranian nuclear program, there are two important aspects to be taken into consideration by the U.S. government. Firstly, there is substantial evidence that the Islamic Republic is on the verge of achieving break-out capability for creating a nuclear device. It is estimated that such a development could happen within the next six months. In the meantime, the election of a new, moderate President of the Islamic Republic H.E. Hassan Rouhani, whose tone and articulated policies (which, undoubtedly, have been endorsed by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei), may create a historic window of opportunity for reaching an agreement on their nuclear program. Additionally, international sanctions imposed by the United Nations and implemented by the trading partners of Iran may also prove to be an effective tool for dealing with the Iranian nuclear crisis.