The Changing Approach of North Korea Towards America, South Korea and the Prospects of Inter-Korean Relations

Abstract

North Korea's international integration strategy and the normalizing process of inter-Korean ties forced North Korea to modify its attitude to the US and South Korea. Observing inter-Korean relations in recent years, we do acknowledge the adjustments of both sides to each other and in relations with the US; in which, the most notable is the adjustment in North Korea's approach to South Korea and to the US. In relations with the US, there are significant shifts in North Korea’s approach from the "maximum cordiality" approach to a parallel one: constructing "a new peace" in accompaniment with "a new threat". The US has been such an important factor in inter-Korean relations which have been affected by US relations with the two sides of Korea peninsula. With South Korea, North Korea has built a new type of relationship with four matching objectives: jointly reform personnel in the direction of respecting the spirit of reconciliation between the two regions; jointly promote economic self-reliance alongside the military policies to diminish dependence on allies of both sides; establish inter-Korean trade activities unaffected by international sanctions; and support mutual communication to gradually change negative public opinion trends about North Korea in the region and around the world. This paper is to focus on analyzing and explaining the changes in North Korea's approach to the US as well as to South Korea after the 2nd U.S-North Korea Summit in 2019 failed. It will conclude by making predictions about the prospects of inter-Korean relations in the coming years.

Received: 7 March 2022 / Accepted: 9 May 2022 / Published: 5 July 2022