Title: North Korea Isolationism: Assessing Regime Survival strategies in The Face Of International sanctions
Authors: Ezeanya Emeka Vincent, Clark Victor Esekumemu & Orhero Abraham Ejogba
Volume: 9
Issue: 2
Pages: 204-225
Publication Date: 2025/02/28
Abstract:
Efforts have been made by the international bodies to address the proliferation of nuclear weapons by the North Korea's regime for decades. Not even the series of sanctions by the International Community could stop North Korea from her nuclear weapons activities. This study investigated how North Korea regime has been able to survive in the face international sanctions. The study also examined the various survival strategies adopted by the regime to escape the effects of international sanctions. It is a descriptive study and aligns with qualitative orientation; the study relied solely on documented evidences from various secondary sources and adopted Political Realism theory. Data presented and analyzed revealed that the Regime in North Korea has continued to survive by engaging in several survival strategies as evident in the paper. More so, the study revealed sanctions imposed by the international bodies on North Korea's regime have not had significant effects on the regime based on its policy of isolationism and other survival strategies. The paper therefore recommends urgently; the needs for the international bodies to increase their efforts in tracking North Korea's financial transactions and impose heavy secondary sanctions on the partnering countries/enablers. More so, the international bodies must exert pressure on Russia and China to withdraw their support for North Korea as they both constitute the economic and political lifelines of the regime, particularly in escaping sanctions.