Korea: U.S.-Korean Relations -- Issues for Congress

Publication Date: April 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

Type:

Coverage: Korea

Abstract:

North Korea's decision in December 2002 to restart nuclear installations at Yongbyon that were shut down under the U.S.-North Korean Agreed Framework of 1994 and its announced withdrawal from the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty create an acute foreign policy problem for the United States. North Korea claims that it has nuclear weapons and that it has completed reprocessing nuclear weapons-grade plutonium that could produce six to eight atomic bombs. U.S. intelligence estimates reportedly agree that North Korea has this capability. North Korea also is operating a secret nuclear program based on highly enriched uranium (HEU).

The main elements of Bush Administration policy are (1) that North Korea must dismantle both its plutonium and HEU programs; (2) that dismantlement must be an early stage in a settlement process; (3) assembling an international coalition to apply pressure on North Korea in multilateral talks; and (4) asserting that a full normalization of U.S.North Korean relations is dependent on the resolving of several issues, including nuclear weapons, missiles, and human rights; and (5) instituting financial sanctions at foreign banks and companies that cooperate with North Korea in international illegal activities.

China organized six party talks among the United States, China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Russia in mid-2003, but the talks have made little progress. U.S. attempts to isolate North Korea in the talks have been countered by North Korea's strategy of threats to leave the talks, actual boycotts of the talks, the issuance of settlement proposals, accusations that the United States plans an "Iraqlike" attack on North Korea, and denials that it has an HEU program. North Korea's position, first taken in August 2005, that it will not dismantlement until light water nuclear reactors are constructed inside North Korea (construction would take an estimated 10-15 years) creates a significant gap between the Bush Administration's timetable for dismantlement and Pyongyang's timetable.

Differences have emerged between the Bush Administration and South Korea over policies toward North Korea. South Korea emphasizes bilateral reconciliation with North Korea and a policy more equidistant between the United States and China. The South Korean public has become critical of Bush Administration policies and the U.S. military presence. Anti-U.S. demonstrations erupted in 2002, and Roh Moo-hyun was elected President after criticizing the United States. In 2003-2004, the Pentagon announced plans to relocate U.S. troops in South Korea away from the demilitarized zone and Seoul. The United States will withdraw 12,500 troops between the end of 2004 and September 2008, and U.S. military officials have hinted that further withdrawals will come after 2008. U.S.-South Korean negotiations are underway to change the military command structure and determine the degree to which the United States could deploy U.S. troops in South Korea to other trouble spots.