US-North Korea Relations under the Obama Administration: Problems and Prospects

North Korea's nuclear weapons program has been a major headache for the U.S. throughout the post-Cold War era. Pyongyang's attempt to develop nuclear weapons got the nation into serious problems with both the Clinton administration (1993-2001) and the Bush administration (2001-2009), as both U.S. administrations maintained that the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons was essential for the preservation of the existing international order. Although the U.S. succeeded in persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program through the six-party talks by September 2005 (i.e., the September 19 Joint Statement), Pyongyang did not fulfill its commitment on denuclearization by the end of 2008. As a result, the Obama administration has inherited the unfinished task of implementing the agreement on North Korea's denuclearization. The purpose of this paper is to examine U.S. North Korean relations during the early phase of the Obama administration with emphasis on the analysis of the administration's handling of the North Korean denuclearization issue from the time of its inauguration in January 2009 to the present. Like his predecessors, President Obama is determined to bring about the denuclearization of North Korea, because the proliferation of nuclear weapons by a rogue nation such as North Korea could not only pose serious threats to the U.S. but also spell the end of the nuclear nonproliferation regime. Unless North Korea returns to the Six-Party Talks for denuclearization, the U.S. will not relax sanctions against Pyongyang.