Background
The confrontation concerning the Korean nuclear weapon remains ongoing after the year of significant negotiations and summits. The Korean Peninsula is encircled by three influencing the world powers: Russia, China, and Japan. The background of the Republic of Korea and South Korea is crucial to clarify their relations to the present situation. Particular importance holds the geographical position as Korea used to be a part of Japan once, so now Korea is afraid of remaining a colony. Therefore, Korea wants to establish relations with the powers around it and alleviate tensions between them. Another point is that South and North Korea have tough times settling peace and have a different perspective on economic development because of their political systems. This facet leads to the discontent from North Korea because they denounce foreign invasion into a country’s policy, and South Korea’s main objective is to elude the war.
Past Actions
North Korea invaded South Korea (that official obtained independence only in 1948) in 1950 and since then was under the control of the United States. The countries signed a mutual defense treaty in 1953 that made their relationships grow stronger (Ku, Inyeop, and Jongseok 2018). Both states desired the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but South Korea once wanted to obtain missiles because it bordered the north part of the country. In 1975 the Republic signed the Nonproliferation Treaty, even though it did not have any nukes programs. The only nuclear weapons they had belonged to the U.S., which withdrew them in 1991. In the following year, the Republic became a member of worldwide organizations such as the UN, W.T.O., the OECD (Ku, Inyeop, and Jongseok 2018). In 2004 South Korea admitted to experimenting with nuclear energy without any malignant pursues as its policy was always aimed at establishing peaceful relations with the countries.
Current Country Policy
These days the Republic of South Korea is trying to establish peaceful relations between two parts of the Peninsula to settle the nuclear weapon issue. The country aims to set diplomatic talks with further cooperation to solve the conflict instead of the implementation of military power(Ku, Inyeop, and Jongseok 2018). Pursuing the goal of denuclearization, South Korea is still protected by the United States, thus factually has the weapon of mass destruction. In April 2018, South Korea tried to negotiate with North about eliminating the threat of mass destruction. The Panmunjeom Declaration established in the demilitarized zone denotes the beginning of peace for both countries and the abolition of nukes. Nowadays, South Korea focuses mainly on settling the relationship within the Peninsula and assisting North Korea in establishing a connection with the U. S.
Possible Alliances and Obstacles
The first potential ally of South Korea is the United States of America, as the countries have had stable relations since the Korean War in 1950. China is likely to join this coalition to prevent a nuclear war. China established diplomatic relations with North Korea that can help ask the North about the denuclearization. Another alliance can be formed by the U.S.A., South Korea, and Israel. This alliance is conditioned by the fact the last two states are concerned about the Iran-North Korea relations. The coalition is possible, but it would cause split with Russia that is aligned with North Korea. The other units may be created by South Korea, EU, and DPRK(The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) that could facilitate the issue of denuclearization, but EU and DPRK are only on speaking terms, so the coalition is unlikely to occur.
In turn, the row of the Middle East and African countries are allying with North Korea. For instance, Pakistan provided North Korea with the technology of uranium enrichment (Siracusa, Joseph M.& Warren, Aiden. 2018, p.5). Some other African countries like Congo and Benin have strong military ties that are beneficial for both countries (Siracusa, Joseph M.& Warren, Aiden. 2018. p. 5). Building a coalition with these countries, including China and Russia, would be efficient to outmaneuver the U.S. (“Negotiating North Korea’s Nukes” 2019). However, many factors still depend on the U.S. as if North Korea shuts down its nuclear program, the U.S. could guarantee diplomatic relationships, lifting sanctions, import, and export of gas, etc.
Possible Solutions and Preferred Outcomes
Among the possible solutions can be the ceasefire implying signing the agreement or restarting negotiations concerning denuclearization. Therefore, the preferred outcomes are the following: signed ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and North Korea, resuming talks related to the abolition of nukes, establishing peaceful relations with South Korea. Moreover, DPRK should rejoin the Non-Proliferation treaty again to become a non-nuclear state.
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All in all, the non-proliferation policy has interlinking issues connected to its outcomes. The risk of nuclear war is still high as the states cannot reach consensus on non-proliferation though it is demanded to provide international security. Pursuing negotiations is needed to prevent accidents caused by the weapons of mass destruction.
Works Cited
Ku,Yangmo, Inyeop, Lee, Jongseok, Woo. 2018. Politics in North and South Kore;Political Development,Economy and 1 Foreign Relations. Abington,Oxon :Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
Siracusa, Joseph M.& Warren, Aiden. 2018. “The Nuclear NonProliferation Regime: An Historical Perspective.” Diplomacy & Statecraft 29 (1): 3-28.