North Korea's Foreign Policy under Kim Jong Il

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) joined the rank of nuclear powers in October 2006 after exploding its first nuclear device. The test was not fully successful yet it unequivocally demonstrated North Korea's nuclear weapons capability. North Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong-il remains as unpredictable and mysterious as ever. This comprehensive study brings together leading scholars in the field to examine the country's current foreign policy under Kim Jong-il as well as its bilateral relations with the USA, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. Contents: Introduction, Tae-Hwan Kwak and Seung-Ho Joo; Juche's role in North Korea's foreign policy, C. Kenneth Quinones; Assessing North Korea's strategic intentions and motivations, Scott Snyder; North Korea's negotiating position during 15 years of chronic crisis: continuities and discontinuities, Curtis H. Martin; Kim Jong Il and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, Ilsu Kim; DPRK WMD programs, Daniel A. Pinkston; North Korea and the Korean peninsula peace regime-building initiative, Tae-Hwan Kwak; North Korean policy toward the United States: Pyongyang copes with an evolving US context, Edward A. Olsen; North Korea's China policy, Ming Lee; North Korean policy toward Russia, Seung-Ho Joo; The DPRK's diplomatic normalization with Japan, Yoshinori Kaseda; North Korea's national strategy toward the South after the June 15 Joint Declaration: a strategy of national cooperation, Moo-Jin Yang; Summary and conclusion, Tae-Hwan Kwak and Seung-Ho Joo; Index.