Introduction | Economic Relations Between North Korea and its Neighbors

Most analysis of the extended nuclear crisis that first broke in 2002 has focused, quite legitimately, on the realm of high politics: the diplomatic and military strategies of the contending parties and their consequences. But the course of the crisis, and the prospects for reaching a durable settlement, have always rested in no small measure on economic issues. Could economic engagement and side payments moderate North Korean behavior, the central bet of the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun years? Or are sanctions a more effective route to getting North Korea’s attention, as hawks have long argued?