The Korean peninsula has emerged, once again, as an area rife with potential to ignite a major conflict. The proliferation and development of nuclear technology in North Korea has caused increasing tension with both its regional neighbors and with the United States.

In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush designated North Korea as part of the “Axis of Evil” (together with Iraq and Iran) because of Korea’s continuing nuclear weapons programs and the countries arms sales to states associated with terrorism. On October 9, 2006, North Korea reportedly tested its first nuclear weapon, disregarding threat of international sanctions. After the alleged test and in response to threats of international sanctions, Korea claimed it would view sanctions as an act of war and go to war with the US.

International concern increased following the release of the U.S. Bush Administration’s National Security Policy, which asserts the right to pre-emptive attack. This confrontation marks a dangerous renewal of a conflict that has divided the peninsula physically and ideologically. Since 1950, North Korea and South Korea technically have remained at war.

The Korean peninsula is of great geo-political significance in the East Asian region. The geographical importance to China, Russia and Japan, as a means of security from any one of the other regional powers, has made the Korean peninsula an object of constant tension between two countries that technically remain at war.

Conflict Background

During the period of warring Chinese states, what is now the northern portion of the Korean peninsula was often integrated into the greater Chinese commonwealth. The earliest portions of the Great Wall of China penetrated deep into Korean territory. This intermingling of ethnic Korean groups to the north with the Chinese created a distinct connection between the two groups that persists to this day, including an affinity for communism, especially as an alternative to Japanese colonialism.

In 1894 the Sino-Japanese War forced China out of the peninsula and in 1904, the Russo-Japanese War cemented Japan’s control of this strategic area. Japan’s colonization caused resentment dissent among Koreans. In 1910 Japan formally annexed Korea and imported Japanese citizens to own land and run the economy. As Japan prepared to expand its empire, northern Korea became an important industrial base to supply the Japanese war machine – a classic case of colonial exploitation.

In 1937, Japan invaded China and former Chinese political adversaries united to fight the Chinese. After World War II, Mao Zedong’s communist party gained control of China and the opposition fled to the island of Taiwan.

Japan’s defeat at the end of the Second World War created a power vacuum on the Korean peninsula. Korean’s hopes for unification vanished when Korea was split along the 38th parallel into two nearly equal sized landmasses; as part of Japan’s surrender treaty, the North was to be controlled by the Russians and the South by the United States.

The peninsula again became a strategic area of interest. The Soviets saw the peninsula as a buffer zone, defending attacks from the East. The U.S. had lost all allies on the North East Asian mainland with the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War. Beyond their geo-strategic interests, both the US and Russia wanted to spread their political ideology and contain the other’s so as to increase their global influence.

The Republic of South Korea was established on August 15, 1946, with its capital in Seoul and led by a constitutional dictator, Syngman Rhee, supported by the US. On February 16, 1948, the people’s Republic of Korea was established, with its capital in Pyongyang and led by former Soviet officer, Kim Il Sung of the Korean Worker’s Party.

Both sides of the 38th parallel viewed the start of the Korean War as an inevitable consequence of the internal and external pressures facing the region. Although the Korean people might have preferred unification and independence, the Great Powers dragged the nation into the cold war ideological struggle. Both North and South Korea declared that military force would be needed to unite Korea as one.

In June 1950, North Korea, with Soviet support, invaded the South, advancing rapidly down the peninsula. While the UN met to discuss its reaction, President Truman sent American troops to reinforce the South Koreans, but did not declare war. Truman also sent the US Fleet into the Straits of Formosa in support of Chiang Kai Shek’s anti-communists, who had been driven from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan. The world was poised on the brink of a nuclear World War III.

North Korean forces pushed the South Koreans and Americans as far south as Pusan. US General Douglas MacArthur faced a situation he’d encountered in the Philippines early in World War II. MacArthur launched a daring sea-borne flanking action and attacking the North Koreans from behind their lines and thwarting their southward drive.

MacArthur ignored China’s warnings against US forces advancing into North Korea and China sent over 180,000 troops to stop the US advance. Multiple Chinese offensives forced the US lines back to the vicinity of the 38th parallel. Disturbed by his commanding general’s willingness for war with China (nuclear if necessary), Truman relieved MacArthur. The Korean War (or “police action”) ebbed and flowed up and down the peninsula for 18 months, claiming an estimated 4 million lives, before an armistice was agreed upon in July 1953.

The eventual outcome of the war was a stalemate on the original border, where it has remained ever since. The war has never officially ended and US troops remain deployed along the 38th Parallel as a trip-wire. Should North Korea invade the South, US forces will be overwhelmed, forcing the US to war to defend South Korea.

Following the armistice North and South Korea were consistently supported, economically and militarily, by the Soviet Union and the United States, respectively. With the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s, North Korean foreign subsidies ended, destabilizing an already weak economy.

When Kim Il-sung died in 1994, Kim Jong-il, was fast tracked to take over the leadership of his father, and officially became the leader of the Korean Worker’s Party in 1997. During the mid to late 1990’s, the North Korean economy experienced severe problems with mass starvations and disastrous floods that crippled the already weak economy. North Korean leaders were forced to ask for food aid from Japan, South Korea and the United States.

Although North Korea’s economy has floundered it is one of the most militarized countries in the world, with a large, well-trained army.

Following the armistice, South Korea endured a period of political turmoil. Syngman Rhee maintained his grip on power through repression until forced to resign in 1960, under threat of revolution. The new leadership lasted only a year and was removed in a series of military coups that left General Chung Hee Park in power.

Park introduced draconian measures and suspended freedoms, but also introduced strong central economic planning that led to South Korea’s emergence as an export-based economic powerhouse – the so-called “Korean Miracle.” Park was assassinated in 1979 and the nation reverted to a period of, corrupt leadership, repression, political violence, confrontations and large street demonstrations. Despite the turmoil, South Korea continued its remarkable economic growth. In 1990, the UN Security Council approved admission of both Koreas into the UN, and in 1991the Koreas signed a “Reconciliation, Non-Aggression, Exchange and Cooperation Accord,” prompting President G.H.W. Bush to announce that the US would remove tactical nuclear weapons from the peninsula.

Throughout the post-war period, US troop presence has been problematic to both Koreas. The North fears US intentions, while South Koreans object to crime and abuses of US troops, protected from punishment by the status of forces (SOFA) agreements. Both sides also view US influence as a barrier to reconciliation advances.

North Korea’s isolation from the formal international economy has created a need for another form of national income through trade. As one of the world’s largest producers of Weapons of Mass destruction, their proliferation has become an integral part of the North Korean economy.

In 1994, Washington became increasingly concerned about the abundant supply of Weapons of Mass Destruction – including a nuclear program – in North Korea, whose need for financial assistance raised the potential for the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction around the world. The United States offered to replace North Korea’s nuclear power plants with light water nuclear reactors, lift trade barriers and pursue diplomatic relations in exchange for North Korea halting their nuclear weapons program.

North Korean missile capabilities range from the No-dong with a range of 1,350 to 1,500 miles, to the hypothetical Taep'o-dong-2 that has a potential range of 8,000 to 12,000 miles, capable of hitting the west coast of the United States.

North Korea also has done extensive research into chemical and biological warfare. North Korea has what is considered to be a mature chemical weapons system, including stockpiles of nerve, blister, choking and blood chemical agents. All of these weapons capabilities can be used in co-ordination with missile development.

In October of 2002, the North Korean government openly admitted to the international community that it had been pursuing a nuclear weapons program throughout the period of the agreement.

The dismissal of United Nations weapons inspectors and the removal of monitoring devises from nuclear facilities has only helped to strengthen mistrust from the West and other nations in the region.

Withdrawal from the internationally recognized nuclear non-proliferation treaty has also caused angst in Washington over the possibility of the North Korean government trading in arms with terrorists.

Since the admission of a nuclear weapons program, tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have escalated, especially due to the post-September 11th U.S. foreign policy of pre-emption against possible threats and the President Bush’s view of North Korea as a member of the “axis of evil.”

Not only has the North Korean-U.S. relationship been put under pressure, but the North Korean relationship with its neighbors, specifically South Korea and Japan, has put the region’s security in limbo (although the Pope has announced plans to close limbo). Rapprochement is strained as North Korea tries to maintain its stable relations without giving up the technology it sees as its own security.

No other reported relationship has been reported between the two countries other than basic trading. This trading, due to North Korea’s isolationist economic principles consist mainly of weapons technology.

Throughout the existence of the North Korean state, there has been a continued policy of isolation, based on Kim Il-sung’s philosophy of self-reliance. The objective of this foreign policy – to promote the development of North Korea – has marginalized the country from the rest of the international community.

The tensions on the peninsula remain, as the Demilitarized Zone along the 38th parallel is still one of the most heavily guarded borders on the planet. On October 9, 2006, North Korea reportedly tested its first nuclear weapon. Historically, crossing this nuclear threshold has provided countries with a degree of immunity from military consequences, which North Korea has stated as its primary goal.