Recasting Inter-Korean Relations Under ‘the Nuclear Crisis’: Two Koreas in between the Geopolitical Rivalry of USA & China

On August 15^th of 1945, Korea got liberated from Japanese colonial rule just after the USA dropped two atomic bombs over Japanese islands. In the meantime, Americans drew 38^th parallel that divided the Korean peninsula in two parts. After three years of military rule by Russians in northern part and Americans in south, separate regime did emerge in North and South. During the Korean war, American commander MacArthur toyed with the idea that UN forces would need A-bomb to win the battle against Chinese army. Additionally, American president Truman and Eisenhower publicly threatened North Korea and China by releasing the news, potential use of A-bomb. In secrecy, from 1958 till 1991, USA deployed nuclear warheads and delivery systems in South Korea. All through the years, it was North Korea which advocated ‘the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.’ ‘Nuclear Crises’ of Korea have very complex and twisted trajectories.

In this article, we are going to delve into ‘the nuclear issues’ over the Korean peninsula not only from geopolitical security angle but also from geoeconomic development project. To understand the developmental trajectories of the two Koreas, we should take into consideration global rivalry between America and China as well as inter-Korean competition. Unlike some scholars and policy makers in America and South Korea who argue that North Korea developed nukes contrary to promoting economic vitality, this article tries to show having nukes is a precondition for the Kim Jung Un regime not only to survive but also to thrive. Geopolitics get entangled with national developments of both Korea in the future as it did in the past.