Abstract: negotiations to end North Korea’s nuclear program have been going on for years. Recently, between this country, the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia (six-party talks). During negotiations in April 2003, North Korea declared that it had manufactured nuclear weapons for self-defence in order to cope with the increasingly frank policy of isolating and suffocating North Korea. On 15 May 2005, some countries warned that they would take punitive measures if North Korea conducted a nuclear test. In a joint statement following the six-party talks in September 2005, North Korea pledged to renounce all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes and to return as soon as possible to the Treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and IAEA safeguards. In November 2005, North Korea boycotted the talks. On 3 October 2006, North Korea announced that it would conduct a nuclear test in the future. In response, Japan, United Kingdom, the United States and Russia warned of the consequences and expressed deep regret and concern. The article describes the history of nuclear weapons proliferation in North Korea and the corresponding contacts of this state with Russia, the USA, international organizations (for example, IAEA). The author shows how the attitude of the states to the nuclear program of North Korea changed. Special attention is paid to the course of the six-party talks. The author offers a certain basis for assessing the situation related to the management of Pyongyang’s nuclear potential.
Keywords: treaty, nuclear weapons, nuclear tests, prohibition, accession, ratification, disarmament