[Article] North Korea Exceptionalism vs. Realism: U.S. Policy Toward the Korean Peninsula / Lee
The Quarterly Changbi 185, Autumn 2019
Abstract
In the articles section, Professor Lee Heajeong, with the Department of Political Science at Chung-Ang University, reviews and analyzes various policies and positions about North Korean nuclearization in the U.S. with the abrupt change in their approach toward North Korean denuclearization since the presidency of Donald Trump. He discusses how U.S. policy toward the Korean peninsula has been shifting from pressure, based on the concept of North Korea exceptionalism, to engagement, based on realism, while paying attention to the emergence and spread of arguments in favor of negotiation that had previously been anemic. In the conclusion, the author anticipates a transitional period of peace and confusion to the peace process on the Korean peninsula, as the existing foreign environment that Korean national security and economy have depended on begins to collapse.