ABSTRACT

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book discusses North Korea's nuclear threat to the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia after Kim Jong-un became the supreme leader of the DPRK in 2012. North Korea's siege mentality, nuclear ambitions, bellicosity, and recalcitrance to United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions are major obstacles to the peace-building process on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. Kim Jong-un made the first deal with the United States on the nuclear issue on February 29, 2012. China expressed its "regrets" over the launch, and this was the first time it had ever used the expression with regard to North Korea's rocket program. The UN Security Council finally voted unanimously for its Resolution 2087 on January 22, 2013, condemning the DPRK for its long-range rocket launch in December 2012 in violation of earlier sanctions of UN Resolution 1718 of 2006 and UN Resolution 1874 of 2009.