The Trump Administration s Policy toward North Korea

This paper discusses the Trump Administration’s policy toward North Korea. It argues that the Trump Administration s policies toward North Korea are as follows: First, it has pressured China as well as North Korea to bring about a solution to the nuclear issue while emphasizing China s role. In spite of the hopes that the Trump administration pins on such a strategy, it appears that it has limits, and the Trump administration is now also pushing for close cooperation with China. Second, the Trump Administration has also opened up the possibility of talks with North Korea while imposing strong pressure and sanctions on it through a policy of ‘Maximum Pressure and Engagement’. Military options are not just empty words because North Koeran nuclear weapons and missiles present an ‘urgent, clear, and sufficient’ threat to the US. Third, the United States has moved to enhance military capabilities to deter China and North Korea in Northeast Asia through strengthening the US-Japan alliance, and Abe government in Japan has also used the North Korean threat to expand Japan’s military role. The United States has than the ROK-US-Japan cooperation, and South Korea may be in a position of supportive or rejected in the ROK-US-Japan cooperation.