Agreed Framework and KEDO : The Role of the United States in Korean Security

The U.S. is moving from a leading security guarantor of the ROK to a mediator of the Korean dispute. The U.S. should understand this fundamental change and adjust its relationship with the ROK and the DPRK to maintain the possibility of Korean reunification. The Agreed Framework is a deal between the U.S. and the DPRK to stop the DPRK's nuclear program in exchange for energy resources. The Agreed Framework forces the U.S. to go beyond its traditional ROK supportive policy to deal with the DPRK's nuclear ambition. The U.S. should assess the goals of the PRC, ROK, DPRK, and Japan on the Korean peninsula to determine if a change in policy will enhance the probability of a soft landing by the DPRK. To conduct this assessment, the goals of all nations and the DPRK's nuclear ambition have been developed. A graphical summary of the subjective analysis was used to pick the U.S. policy option that shows the best credible and clear logic, and mitigates most effectively any international criticism that may dilute the sound reasoning of future policy. The U.S. should change its current policy to mediate the Korean dispute and increase the probability that all concerned actors meet their goals on the Korean peninsula.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Agreed Framework and KEDO : The Role of the United States in Korean Security', published 1999 under ISBN 9781423544302 and ISBN 1423544307.