The purpose of this study is to examine the structure of security policy of North Korea in the Post-Cold War era. As the Cold War and bipolar structures of the post-war international system began to unravel during the late 1980s, notion of security bo...
The purpose of this study is to examine the structure of security policy of North Korea in the Post-Cold War era. As the Cold War and bipolar structures of the post-war international system began to unravel during the late 1980s, notion of security bound to the military security become inadequate. Because other types of threat, that is, non-military issues such as economic threat, political threat and social threat are emerging critically. In other words, broad agenda for security, which means to each defines a focal point within the security problematique, and a way of ordering priorities, but all are woven together in a strong web of linkages, are emerging critically.
Under this perception, this paper focuses on studying the changing priorities, trade-offs, and troubles among military and economic security elements of North Korea in the Post-Cold War era. With this framework, this paper covers two case studies: freezing the program of developing nuclear weapons and relinquishing long-range milssiles for the economic support from the U.S.
This paper will examine two questions. One is how economic crisis is redefining and broadening North Korea's national security sectors. Another is how economic issues help to define North Korea's foreign relations.
This study concludes as follows. First, North Korea's security concept was expanded in the Post-Cold War. North Korea reassessed the national defence policy due to its economic crisis after the Post-Cold War. Today North Korea is representing a new kind of state image : Gangsungdaeguk, through securitization of economic issues and linkage between military security and economic security. Thus, as military security context become enlargement to economic security elements, attemting to elevate economic issues onto the national security agenda North Korea's economic security policy showed that the program of developing nuclear weapons were replaced two LWRs plan, with a total generating capacity of 2000MW. Thanks to stopping missile test, North Korea had the easy of economic sanction in part and economic support from the U.S. Thus, shift of emphasis occured, through negotiation of nuclear missile between North Korea and U.S. In short, enlargement of security concept actualized at the expense of military issues.
Secondly, the economic security policy of North Korea followed to redefine its foreign relation. One of its national goals in negotiation relating to nuclear and missile was to receive economic support and official recognition from the U.S., Japan and South Korea. As the program of developing nuclear weapon was freezed and long-range missile was stopped to receive economic support, North Korea was able to redefine foreign relation.
Considering the above point, Today North Korea's security policy is the result of economic security, which probably be to redefine cocept of security and foreign relation. Goverment officials and expert in North Korea should be find economic security.
Still, given North Korea's security to project power far beyond its borders, North Korea will be assert and maintain : Gangsungdaeguk