North Korea’s Nuclear Decisions and Strategies: Sovereignty, Legitimacy, and the Bomb

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of North Korea’s nuclear strategies and of the decisions which explain its strategic motivations.

The existence of two separate Koreas is an accepted outcome of the current international system. However, in today’s emerging multipolar order, the question of Korean legitimacy remains unresolved and South Korea finds itself surrounded by three nuclear powers-- China, Russia, and, de facto, North Korea. This book traces North Korea’s nuclear quest across three major epochs: the Cold War, the post-Cold War, and post- September 11 periods. Through these lenses, the book reveals the underlying drivers of North Korea’s nuclear decisions and strategies, providing evidence that North Korea’s nuclear weapons are not only intended to guarantee the survival of the Kim regime but also hold the key for Pyongyang to resolve the lingering question over Korean legitimacy. The book provides evidence, through a longitudinal case study, that North Korea’s nuclear program provides a means to achieve full sovereign control of the Korean Peninsula by exploiting future opportunities in an increasingly multipolar international order.

This book will be of interest to students in the fields of foreign policy, defense policy, nuclear proliferation, Korean Studies and International Relations.

George A. Hutchinson is the author of Army of the Indoctrinated: The Suryong, the Soldier, and Information in the KPA. He is the editor of the International Journal of Korean Studies and holds a doctorate from George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. A retired U.S. Air Force veteran, he served as both a Logistics Readiness officer and Korean linguist. He currently works as a consultant supporting and advising basing issues in the Republic of Korea.