US - North Korea relations

Associate professor with Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University

27 May 2022 6 8

Jeffrey Prescott

Inserted 1 year ago

“Today's vote means North Korea will feel more free to take further escalatory actions. But we can't resign ourselves to this fate - that would be far too dangerous.”

Deputy to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations

26 May 2022 1 3

Joe Biden

Inserted 1 year ago

“With regard to whether I would meet with the leader of North Korea, it would depend on whether he was sincere and whether he was serious.”

President of the United States

21 May 2022 3 1

Jake Sullivan

Inserted 2 years ago

“We see this as part of a pattern of testing and provocation from North Korea... we think there is likely more in store.”

US National Security Adviser

25 Mar 2022 2 3

Park Won-gon

Inserted 2 years ago

“Frankly, there are not many options left for the President-elect, President Moon and even the U.S. but to turn to a hawkish stance. Since the North announced its intention to stick to its own nuclear development plan earlier this year, it did not hesitate in ending the moratorium, meaning the regime will likely pursue its goal of producing various nuclear weapons regardless of outside pressure. The only way that looks effective is joining other countries to impose stronger sanctions on North Korea, but this also relates to the North's relations with China.”

Professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University

25 Mar 2022 6 5

Kim Jong-un

Inserted 2 years ago

“The strategic forces ... are fully ready to thoroughly curb and contain any dangerous military attempts of the U.S. imperialists.”

Leader of North Korea

24 Mar 2022 2 3

Korean Central News Agency

Inserted 2 years ago

“Kim [Kim Jong-un] ordered the test because of the daily-escalating military tension in and around the Korean peninsula and the inevitability of the long-standing confrontation with the U.S. imperialists accompanied by the danger of a nuclear war.”

Report by North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)

24 Mar 2022 6 3

Chad O'Carroll

Inserted 2 years ago

“The looming prospect of possible nuclear tests, more joint U.S.-South Korea military drills, and the new conservative South Korean president mean all conditions are present for a tit-for-tat chain reaction of escalatory steps. Though Biden would prefer to focus exclusively on the Ukraine crisis, it's likely he will soon face crisis-level tensions between the Koreas.”

CEO of Korea Risk Group

24 Mar 2022 5 5

Jen Psaki

Inserted 2 years ago

“This launch is a brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilising the security situation in the region. The door has not closed on diplomacy, but Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilising actions.”

White House spokeswoman

24 Mar 2022 4 3

Linda Thomas-Greenfield

Inserted 2 years ago

“While the DPRK escalates its destabilizing actions, the Security Council continues to remain silent. Each ballistic missile launch that results in inaction by the council erodes the credibility of the U.N. Security Council itself in addressing the DPRK and undermines the global non- proliferation regime. The United States remained committed to seeking serious and sustained diplomacy with North Korea but Pyongyang had opted instead for an "increasingly escalatory series of ballistic missile launches in total violation of international law. We stand ready to collaborate and determine a mutually agreeable approach with other council members to address the DPRK's provocations.”

United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President Joe Biden

08 Mar 2022 8 2

Daniel Kritenbrink

Inserted 2 years ago

“Countering the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs remains a top priority for the United States and I am confident the same can be said for our Japanese and South Korean partners. We have made clear many times that we remain prepared to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy without preconditions to achieve that end and to make tangible progress. We have reached out repeatedly to Pyongyang; however, to date, we have not received a substantive response.”

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

09 Feb 2022 6 3

Linda Thomas-Greenfield

Inserted 2 years ago

“There's no reason for this Council to reward them for nine tests in one month and almost as many in the previous years. To spend millions of dollars on military tests when your people are starving indicates that this country does not care about its own people.”

United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President Joe Biden

05 Feb 2022 3 1

Zhang Jun

Inserted 2 years ago

“If they do want to see some new breakthrough, they should show more sincerity and flexibility. They should come up with more attractive and more practical, more flexible approaches, policies and actions and accommodating the concerns of the DPRK. What I see is the key in solving this issue is already in the hands of the United States. As a result of former US President Donald Trump's policy on North Korea, Pyongyang had suspended nuclear tests and international ballistic missile launches. However, in recent months we have seen a vicious circle of confrontation, condemnation, sanctions.”

China’s UN Ambassador

05 Feb 2022 7 2

Yang Moo-jin

Inserted 2 years ago

“The ongoing string of tests should be aimed at highlighting the North's increasingly diverse missile arsenal, and essentially staging a show of force against the United States. Pyongyang is likely to ratchet up the intensity of the tests and possibly fire an ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missiles] or other powerful weapon when it marks the 80th and 110th anniversaries of the birthdays of Kim's late father and grandfather in February and April, both significant holidays in the country.”

Professor at the University of North Korean Studies

28 Jan 2022 5 5

Harry Kazianis

Inserted 2 years ago

“Unless he begins testing them again, North Korea will never rise to the status of something that Joe Biden will use political capital to tackle. I do think at this point the North Koreans just threatened to test ICBMs [inter-continental ballistic missile] and nuclear weapons if they do not see any progress in their goals - getting Joe Biden's attention and the possibility of sanctions relief. The Biden administration will not respond to the specific threat beyond the "normal tough-sounding statements. However, if Kim [Kim Jong-un] does test an ICBM or nuclear weapon, that would violate Washington's unofficial red line that such tests mean more pressure on the DPRK.”

Senior director of Korean Studies at the Center for the National Interest

20 Jan 2022 7 2

Soo Kim

Inserted 2 years ago

“Kim [Kim Jong-un] voluntarily placed the moratorium as an enticement to spur progress in negotiations with the U.S. When it became clear that he would not get his way in the negotiations, Kim had alluded to the possibility of lifting the moratorium. So it was a matter of when - not if - that the DPRK would lift its nuclear and missile moratorium.”

Former CIA analyst now with the Rand Corp

20 Jan 2022 3 2

Leif-Eric Easley

Inserted 2 years ago

“North Korea is trying to lay a trap for the Biden administration. It has queued up missiles that it wants to test anyway and is responding to US pressure with additional provocations in an effort to extort concessions. North Korea should be offered humanitarian assistance once it is willing to diplomatically reengage. But its threats should not be rewarded with international recognition or sanctions relief.”

Professor at Ewha University in Seoul

14 Jan 2022 6 3

Go Myong-hyun

Inserted 2 years ago

“The timing of the fresh sanctions appears to be the U.S. response to the North's recent missile tests, and as it covers those believed to have played their role in securing goods for missile programs, it is directly targeting North Korea's missile programs, and also sends a message to Russia and China, too. The U.S. knows that its proposal for additional U.N. sanctions will not be passed right away, given that it requires agreement from Russia and China. It is closer to the U.S. preparing for further North Korean provocations and sending a message that it will take action for action.”

Research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies focusing on North Korea

13 Jan 2022 5 3

Bong Young-shik

Inserted 2 years ago

“For the US, a joint declaration is acceptable if it is going to lead to meaningful and substantial progress with regards to North Korea's denuclearisation. But this declaration is not really closely connected with making progress on that front. And for North Korea, agreeing upon a joint declaration must lead to some substantial benefits. What North Korea wants the most is sanctions relief. But that is not something that the South Korean government can decide. So, unless there are guaranteed benefits, the North Korean government will not find that proposal attractive. This has been a long shot, a very long shot from the beginning.”

Research fellow at the Yonsei University Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul

13 Jan 2022 4 2

Antony Blinken

Inserted 2 years ago

“These designations convey our serious and ongoing concern about the DPRK's continued proliferation activities and those who support it. The United States will use every appropriate tool to address the DPRK's WMD and ballistic missile programs, which constitute a serious threat to international peace and security and undermine the global nonproliferation regime.”