The conflict on the Korean peninsula has both global and regional dimensions, since in its origin lay disagreement between the two Korean states and at the same time it has been influenced by the interplay of the major powers that landed support to the corresponding allies. Due to its specific position in the region between China, Japan and on the border with Russia, Korea has been highly attractive as a sphere of influence for each of the major powers. Thus, the developments on the Korean peninsula have for decades been reflecting both regional dynamics of its direct parties and the transformation of the global political system. During the period after the end of the Cold war, with the new international processes coming to the stage – global transformations that occurred in world politics – the Korean problem has acquired new traits.
The development of the North Korean nuclear crisis has been determined by general transformation of the international system after the Cold war, the reshuffle of power in the region of the North-East Asia, by the dynamics of bilateral relations in the region after the collapse of the Soviet union, the increasing role of the USA and China in the region and by political and economic conditions inside the regional states.
The Korean problem is very multifaceted. It contains a series of the most complex issues, which modern world politics has to attend to. The matters of security which concern the situation in Korea include unsanctioned nuclear status of the DPRK, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation, military regroup in the region (the system of bilateral military treaties between the USA and Japan, the USA and the Republic of Korea), together with the threat of a collapse of the North Korean regime and political, economic and social problems it would inevitably cause.
