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North Korea: United States
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North Korea is a communist dictatorship following the Juche ideology, developed by Kim Il-sung, the country's first president. The current leader is Kim Jong-il, the late president Kim Il-sung's son. Relations are strong with other traditional socialist states, Vietnam, Laos, and, often, China, as well as with Cambodia and Burma. Following a major famine in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a major economic partner, leader Kim Jong-il instated the "Military-First" policy in 1995, increasing economic concentration and support for the military.
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| An agreement between the United States and North Korea resolving longstanding differences on nuclear weapons and energy programs at first was cause for celebration. But in fact, no real breakthrough has occurred. There is only the appearance of an agreement.
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Chinese foreign ministry officials and the government's North Korea watchers have discussed policy options in the wake of North Korea's televised vow to conduct a nuclear test. The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations issued a pointed appeal for Pyongyang to desist.
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"North Korea is believed to be running a nuclear weapons program at Yongbyon. The United States is trying to persuade the North to give up its nuclear program in return for aid and better ties with the outside world. North Korea demands that the United States provide it with economic aid and security assurances in return for dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Washington wants Pyongyang to abandon its program first. The nuclear standoff flared in October 2002 when U.S. officials said Pyongyang admitted having a secret nuclear program in violation of a 1994 pact.
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North Korea's economy declined sharply in the 1990s with the end of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of bloc-trading with the countries of the former socialist bloc. Gross national income per capita is estimated to have fallen by about one-third between 1990 and 2002. The economy has since stabilized and shown some modest growth in recent years, which may be reflective of increased inter-Korean economic cooperation. Output and living standards... remain far below 1990 levels. Other centrally-planned economies in similar situations opted for domestic economic reform and liberalization of trade and investment. North Korea formalized some modest wage and price reforms in 2002, and has increasingly tolerated markets and a small private sector as the state-run distribution system has deteriorated.
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The January 2, 2004, edition of Australia's ABC News reports that, according to USA Today, "North Korea is reported to have authorised a US delegation, including a top nuclear scientist, to visit its Yongbyon nuclear complex next week. [The visit] has been approved by the Bush administration." This will be the "first foreign visit to North Korea's controversial nuclear facilities since United Nations inspectors were expelled" in 2002.
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