North Korea has posed one of the most persistent U.S. foreign policy challenges of the post-Cold War period. With recent advances in its nuclear and missile capabilities under leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK) has become a grave security threat to the United States and its allies. U.S.-DPRK relations became particularly tense in 2016 and 2017, when North Korea conducted scores of missile tests and three nuclear weapons tests, prompting the United States to expand unilateral sanctions and to lead the United Nations to expand multilateral sanctions against North Korea. Additionally, in repeated public remarks during 2017, Trump Administration officials, including the President, emphasized the possibility of launching a preventive military strike against North Korea.¹

In early 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un dropped North Korea's belligerent posture and publicly committed to "work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."² Over the next 18 months, Kim held 12 summit meetings with the leaders of several major regional powers: five with Chinese President Xi Jinping, three with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, three with U.S. President Donald Trump, and one with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, diplomatic momentum on denuclearization has stalled since a February 2019 Trump-Kim summit, in Hanoi, ended without an agreement.

Below is a selective list of CRS products covering North Korea, followed by a list of CRS experts and their contact information. CRS has several types of general distribution products:

• CRS Insights are 1,000-word discussions, often written in the manner of a blog, designed to provide information and analysis for a short time period.
• CRS In Focus products are two-page briefs.
• CRS Reports are full-length analyses.
• CRS Congressional Distribution Memoranda are prepared for a focused audience or for a specific event (for example, documentation for a conference committee or a markup). These are available to Members of Congress and their staff from the author, by request.

In addition to the products listed below, a number of CRS products on other countries (e.g., U.S.-Taiwan relations) may discuss those countries' relations with North Korea. For more, see CRS.gov or contact one of the authors below.

Products Covering 2018-2019 North Korea-Related Issues

Overview of the 2018-2020 Rapprochement with North Korea

CRS In Focus IF11415, Diplomacy with North Korea: A Status Report, by Mark E. Manyin et al.

2018-2019 Summits

CRS Insight IN11067, The February 2019 Trump-Kim Hanoi Summit, coordinated by Mark E. Manyin

CRS Insight IN10974, The September 2018 Inter-Korean Summit, by Mark E. Manyin and Emma Chanlett-Avery

CRS Insight IN10916, The June 12 Trump-Kim Jong-un Summit, by Mark E. Manyin and Mary Beth D. Nikitin

Background

CRS In Focus IF10246, U.S.-North Korea Relations, by Emma Chanlett-Avery and Mark E. Manyin

CRS Report R41259, North Korea: U.S. Relations, Nuclear Diplomacy, and Internal Situation, coordinated by Emma Chanlett-Avery

CRS Report R45033, Nuclear Negotiations with North Korea, by Emma Chanlett-Avery, Mark E. Manyin, and Mary Beth D. Nikitin

CRS Report R45169, A Peace Treaty with North Korea?, by Emma Chanlett-Avery et al.

CRS In Focus IF10472, North Korea's Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Programs, by Mary Beth D. Nikitin

CRS Report R41438, North Korea: Legislative Basis for U.S. Economic Sanctions, by Dianne E. Rennack

CRS Report R44994, The North Korean Nuclear Challenge: Military Options and Issues for Congress, coordinated by Kathleen J. McInnis

CRS Report R44912, North Korean Cyber Capabilities: In Brief, by Emma Chanlett-Avery et al.

CRS In Focus IF10467, Possible U.S. Policy Approaches to North Korea, by Emma Chanlett-Avery and Mark E. Manyin

CRS Report R46349, North Korea: A Chronology of Events from 2016 to 2020, by Mark E. Manyin, Kirt Smith, and Mary Beth D. Nikitin

Related Products on South Korea-U.S. Relations

CRS In Focus IF10165, South Korea: Background and U.S. Relations, by Mark E. Manyin, Emma Chanlett-Avery, and Brock R. Williams

CRS In Focus IF11388, U.S.-South Korea Alliance: Issues for Congress, by Emma Chanlett-Avery

CRS Report R44950, Redeploying U.S. Nuclear Weapons to South Korea: Background and Implications in Brief, by Amy F. Woolf and Emma Chanlett-Avery

CRS In Focus IF10733, U.S.-South Korea (KORUS) FTA, coordinated by Brock R. Williams

Products on North Korea-Related Legislation

CRS Report R43835, State Sponsors of Acts of International Terrorism—Legislative Parameters: In Brief, by Dianne E. Rennack

CRS In Focus IF10694, Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, by Dianne E. Rennack, Kenneth Katzman, and Cory Welt

CRS In Focus IF10805, Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATS Act) Deadlines, Time Frames, and Start Dates, by Dianne E. Rennack

Archived Products on North Korea

CRS Report RL34256, North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: Technical Issues, by Mary Beth D. Nikitin

CRS Report R43480, Iran-North Korea-Syria Ballistic Missile and Nuclear Cooperation, coordinated by Paul K. Kerr

CRS Report R40095, Foreign Assistance to North Korea, by Mark E. Manyin and Mary Beth D. Nikitin

CRS Report R43865, North Korea: Back on the State Sponsors of Terrorism List?, by Mark E. Manyin et al.

CRS Report RL31696, North Korea: Economic Sanctions Prior to Removal from Terrorism Designation, by Dianne E. Rennack

CRS Report RL30811, North-South Korean Relations: A Chronology of Events in 2000 and 2001, by Mark E. Manyin

CRS Report RL32743, North Korea: A Chronology of Events, October 2002-December 2004, by Mark E. Manyin, Emma Chanlett-Avery, and Helene Machart

CRS Report RL33389, North Korea: A Chronology of Events in 2005, by Emma Chanlett-Avery, Mark E. Manyin, and Hannah Fischer

Author Contact Information

Footnotes