was split with the northern half
coming under Soviet-sponsored Communist domination. After failing in
the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed Republic of Korea
(ROK) in the southern portion by force, North Korea (DPRK), under
its founder President KIM Il-so'ng, adopted a policy of ostensible
diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against excessive
Soviet or Communist Chinese influence. The DPRK demonized the US as
the ultimate threat to its social system through state-funded
propaganda, and molded political, economic, and military policies
around the core ideological objective of eventual unification of
Korea under Pyongyang's control. KIM's son, the current ruler KIM
Jong Il, was officially designated as his father's successor in
1980, assuming a growing political and managerial role until the
elder KIM's death in 1994. After decades of economic mismanagement
and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied
heavily on international aid to feed its population while continuing
to expend resources to maintain an army of 1 million. North Korea's
long-range missile development, as well as its nuclear, chemical,
and biological weapons programs and massive conventional armed
forces, are of major concern to the international community. In
December 2002, following revelations that the DPRK was pursuing a
nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a
1994 agreement with the US to freeze and ultimately dismantle its
existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In January 2003, it
declared its withdrawal from the international Non-Proliferation
Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had completed the
reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods (to extract weapons-grade
plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent." Since August
2003, North Korea has participated in the Six-Party Talks with
China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the US designed to resolve
the stalemate over its nuclear programs. The fourth round of
Six-Party Talks were held in Beijing during July-September 2005. All
parties agreed to a Joint Statement of Principles in which, among
other things, the six parties unanimously reaffirmed the goal of
verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful
manner. In the Joint Statement, the DPRK committ