United Nations Security Council and denuclearization of North Korea: Interrogating the imperative for freeze-for-freeze option

Abstract

The continued nuclear enrichment by North Korea despite several sanctions from the United Nations Security Council has continued to attract mixed reactions from scholars, security experts, policy makers and strategic thinkers. The issue has generated serious controversy which has  become a critical subject of concern that dominates debates in many international and local discourses since the recent time. In most of these fora relevant stakeholders have proposed solutions for the denuclearization of North Korea in view of its implications for both regional stability and global security. This paper interrogates the import and feasibility of the freeze-for-freeze option proposed by Russia and China for the denuclearization of North Korea. Data for the study were sourced from secondary sources, specifically from published journal articles, official gazettes from relevant government agencies and institutions. The theoretical framework that anchors the study is the theory of Collective Security  while content analytical technique is employed for data analysis. A critical analysis of data revealed among others, that; North Korea’s nuclear armament has thrown up tension in the Korea peninsula which poses a grave threat to South East Asian stability, global peace and security. This is  further exacerbated by frequent joint military drills between the United States and South Korea close to North Korean border. The study also discovered that the use of sanctions has failed to disempower North Korea from becoming a nuclear power hence the argument for the adoption of Freeze-for-Freeze option. The study recommended amongst others that the United Nations Security Council members should cooperate and adopt  a nonmilitary option towards North Korea’s denuclearization in order to save the world from a nuclear war. Furthermore, the US should reconsider a cessation of her joint military drills with South Korea in exchange for a full disarmament of all North Korean nuclear weapons and associated  facilities. In all, the paper recommended for an internationally supervised peace treaty between North and South Korea that pledges mutual non-aggression and restoration of full diplomatic relations.

Keywords:  Nuclear Weapons, Proliferation, Sanctions, Freeze-for-Freeze, Denuclearization