North Korea's defensive power and US-North Korea relations

This article examines nuclear and missile tensions in U.S.-North Korea rela tions and analyzes North Korea's defensive power, i.e., its ability to resi st U.S. influence. Contending that the missile and nuclear tensions are int ertwined with North Korea's defensive power, it probes various sources of N orth Korea's defensive capability Such domestic factors as threats to its s urvival, Juche ideology rivalry with South Korea, consolidation of the new regime, and being small are examined as factors that help Pyongyang increas e its capacity to withstand pressure from Washington and compensate for the asymmetry of power between the two systems. Pointing to a paradoxical phen omenon of the "power of the weak," the article argues that the traditional power approach falls short in accounting for North Korea's role and influen ce in the nuclear and missile crises with the U.S. Although the U.S. is far more powerful than North Korea, America's superior military or economic po wer does not guarantee North Korea's compliance with U.S. interests when No rth Korea is determined to exercise its defensive power.