The sabre-rattling that North Korea indulged in this week by conducting a second nuclear test and testing ballistic missiles is part of a decade-long tug of war between the isolated communist state and the United States.

“North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens. States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil.”

This was US President George W. Bush making his first State of the Nation address in January 2002. Speaking in the aftermath of the 2001 September 11th attacks on the United States, he and many others were worried that Kim Jong Il’s regime might supply terrorist networks with fissile material.

His aggressive rhetoric tone was met with fears in North Korea that the US might attack. Six nation disarmament talks between the two Koreas, the US, Russia, Japan and China stalled. When they once again restarted in 2005, Pyongyang demanded a pact of non-aggression with the US.

"We’re peaceful people,” insisted Bush, however. “We have no intention of invading North Korea. South Korea has no intention of attacking North Korea. We’re purely defensive.”

A constant to-and-fro

The US found another means of putting pressure on Pyongyang -- cutting its financial supplies by putting pressure on banks.

In October 2006, North Korea tested its first nuclear bomb -- and got concessions in return. The six nation talks were re-launched and gained momentum. Pyongyang was promised supplies of urgently-needed oil in return for shutting down and dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and being transparent about its atomic programme.

The Bush administration softened its stance and even announced an end to sanctions in spring 2008. Bush also said: “I am notifying Congress of my intent to rescind North Korea’s designation as a state sponsor of terror in 45 days.”

Tug of war dates back to Clinton

Although Bush had his part to play in the tug of war between the US and North Korea, the history dates back to the Clinton era.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton ordered plans for an attack on North Korea to be prepared. Later, he sent former President Jimmy Carter on a peace mission to Pyongyang.

A comprehensive treaty was signed after the North Korean government promised to stop all its nuclear activities: Pyongyang was promised economic aid and a plan to build a modern light water reactor with US help was also floated.

Clinton had high hopes and announced in 1994 that “after 16 months of intense and difficult negotiations with North Korea we have completed an agreement that will make the United States, the Korean peninsula and the world safer.”

But these hopes were short-lived. North Korea did not keep its side of the deal. It started working secretly on uranium enrichment. So when Bush arrived tension was brewing.

N Korea could be banking on an olive branch from Obama

Kim Jong Il must have observed the President Barack Obama’s recent overtures to Iran, another “axis of evil” power, with an interested eye. He might also have a similar olive branch in mind.

Even though Pyongyang quit the six nation talks once again in April, history has shown that they can be revived.

The bankrupt regime on the northern Korean peninsula might thus be able to acquire not only some much-needed economic aid but also some political clout.

Authors: Daniel Scheschkewitz / Anne Thomas
Editor: Thomas Bärthlein