Abstract:
Since the end of Korea war in 1953, the Korean Peninsula has witnessed a plethora of security challenges; particular the acts of nuclear proliferation. The U.S and its allies continued to witness the bulk of these challenges given the emergence of North Korea nuclear weapon programme and its determined efforts to attack the U.S and its allies with WMD. However, Preemptive and diplomatic measures oriented by US towards grappling with the attempts by North Korean to acquire nuclear weapon and develop its ballistic missile capabilities have witnessed both success and failure. To be sure, North Korea continued to pursue further nuclear capabilities, until recently, when it agrees to halt its nuclear programme and commits to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. The study examines the impact of U.S preemptive measures on North Korea nuclear development; and its campaign against nuclear proliferation on denuclearization of Korean peninsula. Securitization theory was adopted, in arguing that; when the security character of public problem is established, and the social commitments resulting from the collective acceptance that such a phenomenon is a threat, then, the possibility of a particular policy is created to combating it. The study utilized Time-series research design, while the data for the study was collected from documentary sources. Content analysis based on qualitative description aided the interpretation. The study found out that: although there have been several interventions through the U.S preemptive measures, the conditions that encourage North Korea nuclear development are yet to be adequately mitigated; the U.S campaign against nuclear proliferation has only minimally improved denuclearization of Korean Peninsula. The study recommended a holistic implementation of the Singapore Peace agreement; and other Agreed Frameworks initiated towards ending the US-North Korea rhetorics and denuclearization of Korean peninsula.
