ABSTRACT
The transition in power from Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un attracted significant US attention. The early weeks and months of the transition were relatively smooth, at least formally. The USA waited to see whether Kim Jong Un would indeed succeed his father, and there were discussions regarding the best course of action in case of an internal struggle for power in North Korea. Seeking to test the waters with the new leader of North Korea, the USA reached the Leap Day Agreement on 29 February 2012. This can be considered a relaxation of the Obama administration’s ‘strategic patience’ policy. By February 2013 North Korea would end up conducting its third nuclear test, the first under Kim Jong Un. North Korea came to believe that only a nuclear deterrent would prevent the Kim Jong Un regime from suffering the same fate as Gaddafi and his regime.
