The Korean People's Army encompasses the combined military forces of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The KPA consists of five branches:the Ground Force,the Naval Force,the Air Force,Strategic Force,and the Special Operation Force. It is commanded by the WPK Central Military Commission,which is chaired by the WPK general secretary,and the president of the State Affairs;both posts are currently headed by Kim Jong Un.
North Korea has diplomatic relations with 160 states. The country's foreign relations have been dominated by its conflict with South Korea and its historical ties to the Soviet Union. Both the government of North Korea and the government of South Korea claim to be the sole legitimate government of the whole of Korea. The de facto end of the Korean War left North Korea in a military confrontation with South Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
Relations between North Korea and the United States have been historically hostile. The two countries have no formal diplomatic relations. Instead,they have adopted an indirect diplomatic arrangement using neutral intermediaries. The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang is the US protecting power and provides limited consular services to U.S. citizens. North Korea,officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK),does not have an embassy in Washington,DC,but is represented in the United States through its mission to the United Nations in New York City which serves as North Korea's de facto embassy.
The Korean conflict is an ongoing conflict based on the division of Korea between North Korea and South Korea,both of which claim to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea. During the Cold War,North Korea was backed by the Soviet Union,China,and other communist allies,while South Korea was backed by the United States,United Kingdom,and other Western allies.
The Japan–North Korea Pyongyang Declaration was signed in 2002,and was the result of a systematic Japan–North Korea summit meeting. The aim of the declaration was to provide low-interest long term loans to North Korea as well as economic assistance,including humanitarian aid,in accordance with the moratorium of nuclear missile development which has been in place since 1999. The Japanese government hoped to learn the fate of Japanese citizens by North Korea which,prior to the declaration,was unacknowledged.
Kim Jong Un is a North Korean politician who has been supreme leader of North Korea since December 2011 and the general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim Jong Il,who was the second supreme leader of North Korea,and a grandson of Kim Il Sung,the founder and first supreme leader of the country.
The Soviet Union was the first to recognize North Korea on October 12,1948,shortly after the proclamation,as the sole legitimate authority in all of Korea. The Soviet Union supported North Korea during the Korean War. North Korea was founded as part of the Communist bloc,and received major Soviet military and political support. The comprehensive personality cult around North Korea's ruling family was heavily influenced by Stalinism. China and the Soviet Union competed for influence in North Korea during the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s,as North Korea tried to maintain good relations with both countries.
New Zealand–North Korea relations refers to international relations between New Zealand and North Korea. Relations between the two countries have been almost non-existent since the division of Korea. During the Korean War in the 1950s,New Zealand troops fought as part of the United Nations force that repelled the North Korean invasion of South Korea. Since then,New Zealand and North Korea have had little contact,until July 2000 when North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Phil Goff met in Bangkok,leading to the establishment of diplomatic relations in March 2001. The New Zealand ambassador to South Korea based in Seoul is also cross-accredited to North Korea. In 2006,North Korea tested its first nuclear weapon,drawing criticism and suspension of relations by the New Zealand government,which holds a staunch anti-nuclear policy. New Zealand began re-establishing formal relations in 2007,when the New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters visited Pyongyang on November 20 to discuss possible political and economic deals with North Korea,on the basis that it started dismantling its nuclear weapons facilities.
The bilateral relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have been generally friendly,although they have been somewhat strained in recent years because of North Korea's nuclear program. They have a close special relationship. China and North Korea have a mutual aid and co-operation treaty,signed in 1961,which is currently the only defense treaty China has with any nation. China's relationship with North Korea is its only formal alliance.
Sung-Yoon Lee (Korean: 이성윤) is a South Korean scholar,author,and commentator of Korean studies and East Asian studies,and specialist on North Korea. He is a former fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars,and former Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor in Korean Studies and assistant professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy,Tufts University. He was also an associate in research at the Korea Institute,Harvard University. and a research fellow at the National Asia Research Program.
Moon Chung-in is a Special Advisor to President Moon Jae-in of South Korea for Foreign Affairs and National Security. He is also a Distinguished University Professor of Yonsei University,Krause Distinguished Fellow,School of Policy and Global Strategy,University of California,San Diego,and co-Convener of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (APLN). He is currently serving as the editor-in-chief of Global Asia. On 21 May 2017,Moon Chung-in was nominated by President Moon Jae-in as a special advisor on unification,diplomacy and national security affairs.
The 2017–2018 North Korea crisis was a period of heightened tension between North Korea and the United States throughout 2017. The crisis began early in 2017 when North Korea conducted a series of missile and nuclear tests that demonstrated the country's ability to launch ballistic missiles beyond its immediate region,suggesting their nuclear weapons capability was developing at a faster rate than had been assessed by U.S. intelligence. Both countries started exchanging increasingly heated rhetoric,including nuclear threats and personal attacks between the two leaders,which,compounded by a joint U.S.–South Korea military exercise undertaken in August and North Korea's sixth nuclear test in September,raised international tensions in the region and beyond and stoked fears about a possible nuclear conflict between the two nations. In addition,North Korea also threatened Australia twice with nuclear strikes throughout the year for their allegiance with the United States. International relations lecturer and former government strategist Van Jackson said in the book On the Brink:Trump,Kim,and the Threat of Nuclear War that it was the closest the world had come to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit,commonly known as the Singapore Summit,was a summit meeting between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump,held at the Capella Hotel,Sentosa,Singapore,on June 12,2018. It was the first-ever meeting between leaders of North Korea and the United States. They signed a joint statement,agreeing to security guarantees for North Korea,new peaceful relations,the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,recovery of soldiers' remains,and follow-up negotiations between high-level officials. Both leaders also met separately with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Choe Son-hui is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea. Previously the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs,she was appointed Minister on 11 June 2022,becoming the first woman to hold the position and is one of few North Korean women holding a high-level office.
The leaders of some countries or their representatives or spokespersons released public statements about the 2018 North Korea–United States summit. The summit received a mixed international reaction,with many countries expressing praise or hope for achieving a peace deal from the summit.
The Peace Treaty on Korean Peninsula is a proposed settlement to formally end military hostilities on the Korean Peninsula as a follow-up to the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement implemented by the United Nations after the Korean War. During the inter-Korean summit on April 27,2018,Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in signed the Panmunjom Declaration;the declaration involved an agreement about mutual efforts and action items for transforming the armistice agreement into a peace treaty with the cooperation of the United States and China. During the 2018 Trump–Kim summit,US president Donald Trump and Kim signed a Joint Statement which reaffirmed the Panmunjom Declaration. On November 23,2023,North Korea terminated its 2018 agreement with South Korea.
The 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit,commonly known as the Hanoi Summit,was a two-day summit meeting between North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. president Donald Trump,held at the French Colonial Hôtel Métropole in Hanoi,Vietnam,during February 27–28,2019. It was the second meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the United States following their first meeting in Singapore the year prior.
The 2019 North Korea–Russia summit was a summit meeting between North Korea and Russia where North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 25 April 2019.
The 2019 Koreas–United States DMZ Summit was a one-day summit held at the Korean Demilitarized Zone between North Korean chairman Kim Jong Un,U.S. president Donald Trump,and South Korean president Moon Jae-in,following the 2019 G20 Osaka summit. Trump briefly stepped over the border at 3:45 PM (GMT+9) on June 30,marking the first time a sitting U.S. president had set foot on North Korean soil. It was also the second time since the end of the Korean War in 1953 that a North Korean leader entered the South's territory,following the April 2018 inter-Korean summit. Senior White House advisors Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner also attended the summit,with Ivanka Trump and U.S. envoy to South Korea Harry B. Harris Jr. holding a meeting with Kim later broadcast on North Korean television.
Sung-Yoon Lee is a scholar,policy advisor,and author specialized on North Korea and East Asia. His written opus has focussed on exposing the wrongdoings of the North Korean regime and advancing policies to curb it. He has contributed to media outlets,published academic papers and a book,and written statements as part of his expert witness advice to the U.S. Congress. His writing style has been described as exuberant,vivid,and sharp,with a meticulous and insightful analysis.
