The Peninsula Question: A Chronicle of the Second Korean Nuclear Crisis

The delicate balance of power on the Korean Peninsula was shaken with the end of the cold war. North Korea's ideological foundation crumbled, its economy collapsed, and founding father Kim Il-sung died. The DPRK tried to overcome these tribulations by developing nuclear weapons, inevitably bringing confrontation with the United States. Conflict was narrowly averted with the Agreed Framework of 1994, which called on Pyongyang to freeze production of plutonium in return for normalization of relations. The equilibrium was short-lived, however, and in 2002 the U.S. confronted North Korea with evidence of secret plans to enrich uranium. The Peninsula Question chronicles the resulting nuclear crisis, analyzing the responses of the six major players: China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the United States, and North Korea itself. Yoichi Funabashi, a leading Japanese journalist, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the negotiations to denuclearize the peninsula. Informed by interviews with more than 160 diplomats and decisionmakers, he explores how each of the parties engaged with North Korea, starting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Pyongyang in 2002 and 2004. Discussion follows of U.S. presidential envoy James Kelly's visit and the struggles within the Bush administration over how to deal with North Korea after the collapse of the Agreed Framework. In looking to North Korea's neighbors, Funabashi examines Russia's attempts to play the role of honest broker with Kim Jong-il, Seoul's efforts to keep its sunshine policy alive, and how China's rise plays into the issue. Funabashi provides a window of understanding on the historical, geopolitical, and security concerns at play on the Korean peninsula since 2002. Notably, his attention to China's dealings with Pyongyang offer rare and valuable insights into decisionmaking processes in Beijing. His authoritative account is an important resource for understanding the crisis in Korea, diplomacy in Northeast Asia, and nuclear policy in the age of terror.