Geopolitics and A Realist Turn of US Foreign Policy Toward North Korea

This paper examines the realist turn of US foreign policy under the Trump administration and how it will reshape the North Korean policies of the United States. As the US grand strategy under the Trump administration has shifted to decline denial under retrenchment, the dynamics of US-China relations of competition and cooperation will further intensify. While the priority of North Korean issues has been elevated with regard to US-China bilateral relations, it has become the issue of opposing interests, due to divergent expectations on the geostrategic landscape in the case of denuclearization on the peninsula. As President Trump’s willingness to resolve the North Korean issue becomes salient, the tension between the US and China is expected to be amplified and a more coercive approach toward denuclearizing the North is anticipated. Also, the Maximum Pressure and Engagement is likely to be adopted as a part of regional balancing strategy vis-à-vis the revisionist rising states in the region to build an architecture of peace through strength in Northeast Asia.