U. S. Military

Department Of Defense (Dod)

Daniel Chaves

Throughout the past 70 years, the alliance between the United States and Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) has persisted in a dynamic security environment in which South Korea emerged as a middle-power with robust crisis management capabilities. Conversely, the 1995 famine in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) showcased the DPRK's inability to provide basic services; it was the first time the regime solicited international humanitarian assistance, thus allowing international organizations and nongovernmental organizations to operate in the country. Social network analysis helps illuminate how the pedantic political relationship between the two Koreas caused fluctuations within the humanitarian assistance networks to the DPRK. Due to the ROK's humanitarian assistance capabilities and the strength of the U.S.-ROK alliance, the United States is less likely to conduct unilateral humanitarian assistance operations. Although many capable nongovernmental organizations exist on the Korean Peninsula, the ever-changing geopolitical situation between the United States, ROK, and DPRK can restrict their ability to execute humanitarian operations there.This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.I. Background * A. Research Question * 1. Deterrence and Strategic Options * 2. U.S. Department of Defense and the Republic of Korea * 3. Nongovernmental Organizations * B. Methodology * C. Chapter Outline * II. Evolution of HADR on the Korean Peninsula * A. Economic Development on the Korean Peninsula and HADR * B. Development and Repression of the Independent Society * C. NGOS and the ROK Government * III. Humanitarian Operations in North Korea 1995-2017 * A. Humanitarian Operations in North Korea 1995-2008 * B. Humanitarian Operations in North Korea 2009-2017 * C. Chapter Conclusion * IV. Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Response Network to North Korea * A. Network Boundaries * 1. Network Ties (Relations) * 2. NGO Characteristics (Attributes) * 3. Parsing Network Data by Organizational Capabilities * 4. Network Metrics * 5. Topography * 6. Centrality * B. Temporal Analysis of the NGO/IO Network * C. Chapter Conclusion * V. Conclusions and Recommendations * A. Conclusions * B. Recommendations for U.S. Forces In HADR on the Korean PeninsulaWhen Kim Jong-un took power in the DPRK in 2012, the increase in aggressive actions toward regional allies of the United States, and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions for the North Korean average citizen led to an increase in international pressure to mitigate the menace the country presented to its own citizens and neighboring countries. International pressure on the Kim Regime remains central to these efforts. Acts of aggression, such as testing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in 2017, have resulted in the toughening of international sanctions. However, attempts to limit the regime's ability to proliferate nuclear weapons through sanctions have also hindered its ability to provide basic services, such as food and medical care to the DPRK's 25 million citizens. That being said, sanctions are only partly responsible for the deteriorating conditions within the country. The strategic choice by the DPRK to focus on weapons development in lieu of medicine and food is also responsible for the poor humanitarian conditions in the country.

Daniel Chaves

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