North Korea's Nuclear Program: The Clinton Administration's Response

The very real possibility of nuclear proliferation on the Korean peninsula threatens American national security interests in Northeast Asia and poses a challenge to the international nonproliferation regime. The suspected North Korean nuclear weapons program is the primary cause of concern. Although a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Safeguards Agreement, North Korea's overt and covert behavior over the past several years has raised serious questions about its true intentions. The Clinton administration has responded to this challenge through a series of incentives and threats, the classic carrot and stick approach, in an effort to influence North Korean behavior. In particular, the U.S. has attempted to persuade North Korea's political leaders to abandon any nuclear weapons program. The paper also provides some constructive criticisms of the Clinton policy and its implementation, and evaluates whether the President's non-proliferation effort directed at the Korean peninsula can serve as an effective model for possible proliferation elsewhere.