Conclusion

Long before North Korea announced, in October 2002, that it possessed nuclear weapons, Bush's infamous “axis of evil” speech was a clear sign that his administration had made North Korea a target. ¹ In early 2002, the U.S. not only labeled North Korea part of an “axis of evil,” it also threatened to use nuclear weapons against it. ² In the first year and a half of the Bush presidency, there were no serious talks between the U.S. and North Korea. Moreover, under pressure from right-wing congressmen, the Bush administration reevaluated the 1994 U.S. agreement with North Korea, known as “The Agreed Framework.” ³ Although most Americans remain completely unaware of it, in 1994 the U.S. came very close to bombing North Korea unilaterally. “The Agreed Framework” narrowly averted a new Korean War that, in the estimation of the U.S. military commander in Korea, would have killed more than the three million people who lost their lives from 1950–1953. ⁴