Mr. Pettit I.R. NORTH KOREA GOES NUCLEAR: KIMS NUCLEAR GAMBLE 1. Timeline of North Korean leaders: A.) Kim IL Sung: led North Korea from 1948 to early 1994. -­‐Fought U.S. in the Korean War. -­‐helped to establish the 38th parallel as the D.M.Z. -­‐died of a hear attack at age 82. B.) Kim Jong IL: led North Korea from 1994-­‐ 2011 -­‐Kim IL Sung’s son. -­‐escalated the most dangerous and significant attempt to make North Korea a nuclear power. -­‐North Korea saw extreme poverty/malnutrition during his tenure. -­‐died of a heart attack at the age 70. C.) Kim Jong Un: current leader of North Korea -­‐Kim Jong IL’s son. -­‐has shown evidence of continuing his father’s aggressive policies. 2. Recent U.S. Presidents and their approach to North Korea: A.) Bill Clinton: visited North Korea in 1994. -­‐agreed to cut back on economic sanctions against North Korea. -­‐Signed the Agreed Framework with North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan. (6 Party talks) -­‐Agreed Framework gave North Korea a light water reactor for energy purposes but also scheduled inspections by the IAEA to ensure that weapons-­‐grade plutonium was not being used. -­‐demonstrates a diplomatic approach to nuclear politics with North Korea. -­‐was heavily criticized by Republicans and labeled, “appeasement”. B.) George W. Bush: imposed strict sanctions on North Korea. -­‐2002 state of the union, “axis of evil” speech aimed partially at North Korea. -­‐Refused to negotiate any deals with North Korea as long as they were pursuing nuclear technology. -­‐demonstrates a more hardline approach to nuclear politics with North Korea. C.) Barack Obama: Which of these policies does he seem most in favor of? Diplomacy/Clinton: Hardline/Bush: