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Arm, to disarm: North Korea's Cold War anti-nuclearism.
- Source :
-
Pacific Review . Jul2023, Vol. 36 Issue 4, p813-843. 31p. - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- North Korea is a de facto nuclear weapon state, having undertaken six tests between 2006 and 2017. Throughout a series of nuclear crises, since the early 1990s, Pyongyang has not only emphasised its sovereign right to explore nuclear options as an inevitable response to a hostile United States, but has at the same time consistently embraced an anti-nuclear stance, maintaining a commitment to the 'denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula'. This nuclear posture – 'arm, to disarm' – stressing the inevitability of nuclear-arming while at the same time pledging a normative anti-nuclear commitment to denuclearisation, contains seemingly irreconcilable elements. This challenges rationalist IR theories, which are unable adequately to explain the DPRK's position, characterising it as either a tactical diversion to disguise realist motivations or a negotiation leverage to induce economic and strategic concessions. This article offers an alternative analysis, seeking to decode the DPRK's seemingly contradictory nuclear posture by arguing that its anti-nuclear posture has deep Cold War roots aimed at hedging its security inferiority vis-à-vis nuclear-armed enemies. It focuses on the Cold War security nexus in East Asia and examines how Pyongyang's engagement in the anti-nuclear movement evolved to shape its seemingly irreconcilable 'arm, to disarm' nuclearism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *COLD War, 1945-1991
*ANTINUCLEAR movement
*NUCLEAR weapons
*POSTURE
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09512748
- Volume :
- 36
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Pacific Review
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 164479433
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2022.2034918