Why Are US-North Korea Relations So Challenging?

The United States’ relationship with North Korea is today the worst since the fruitful summit between US former President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Head of State Kim Jong Un in Singapore on 12 June 2018.

The relationship between North Korea and the USA, and the dilemma of nuclear weapons possession:

The U.S. National Security Strategy declares North Korea one of the top threats to U.S. national security. At the best of times, U.S.-North Korea ties are a mixture of domination and competition, but today they are largely adversarial.

Also in this regard, the U.S claimed that the proliferation of weapons in North Korea threatens to fuel instabilities in the Far East region. Thus, the US is not prepared to accept mutual vulnerability and has threatened mili­tary escalation.

On the other hand, Pyongyang sees its nuclear deterrent against the United States as a guarantee of its security.

Indeed, Pyongyang’s has been developing several programs of weapons of mass destruction and its ballistic missiles program which is cited as one of the most dangerous and complex crises in the world in recent times. It poses threats to its neighboring states have made the Asian country a toxic domestic issue in a way that it has not been since the summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore on 12 June 2018.

Despite the fact that these tests violate strict international sanctions, North Korea has carried out a flurry of missile tests in recent weeks, including hypersonic and long-range weapons.

This comes just weeks after South Korea unveiled several weapons of its own, describing them as “the world’s most powerful weapon”.

Even though the American administration considers ballistic missiles to be more threatening than cruise missiles because they can carry more powerful payloads, have a longer range, and can fly faster, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command affirmed North Korea’s latest launch did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory or that of its allies.

US administration has frequently urged Pyongyang to abandon all existing nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner and return to full compliance with the Treaty and its IAEA safeguards obligations.

The American authority considered the risk of possible persion of these rockets to programs of weapons of mass destruction to be high and therefore condemned this approach.

The launching of ballistic missiles by North Korea into waters off the coast of Japan territory plus its support for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad in his brutal civil war has raised tensions with the United States.

Last year, President Trump came into the Wight House determined to improve ties with North Korea, but it was not fruitful.

However, the conflict remains explosive even below the threshold of open violence. Pyongyang continues to violate its obligations under the relevant Security Council resolutions by launching ballistic missiles. The concern over the increasing possibility of the use of nuclear weapons has been expressed more frequently.

In addition, several conflicts are grouped around this antagonism, which are characterized by clashes of interests between China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, and the USA.

Furthermore, neighboring states are following the conflict between Pyongyang and Washington with concern, not only because of the immediate effects of any nuclear war, but also with regard to their own foreign and security policy interests.

In 2020, the Trump administration was striving for a sustain­able conflict resolution based on an agreement at the highest political level between Pyongyang and Washing­ton. Such a fruitful dialogue was an important, but not sufficient prerequisite for a sustainable solution. The North Korea conflict is the focal point of a mix of various, confounding problem constellations, according to American politicians.

Despite North Korea’s totalitarian rule, its catastrophic human rights situation, and its opacity are further ob­stacles to integrating the country into international contexts in a way that promotes peace. It has been trying to promote dialogue between the USA and North Korea without damaging its relations with other par­ties, according to geopolitical experts.

According to an official statement released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the Director-General of the North Korean foreign ministry's department of U.S. affairs affirmed "explicitly speaking once again, we have no intention to sit face to face with the U.S."

It's worth mentioning that Pyongyang is specifically prohibited by the United Nations from testing ballistic missiles as well as nuclear weapons.

Ultimately, the risk of military escalation is enormous. Given the involvement of other nuclear weapon possessors such as Russia and China, the use of nuclear weapons cannot be ruled out.