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President George W. Bush brands North Korea as part of the "axis of evil" in his State of the Union address, January 2002. (White House photo by Eric Draper) |
When President George W. Bush delivered his State
of the Union address in January 2002, Americans were still reeling
from the most devastating terrorist attack ever inside their
country. Just four months before, al Qaeda operatives had pulled
off the unthinkable. Navigating hijacked planes into the World
Trade Center towers, their suicide missions pulverized the New
York City skyline, killing thousands. A U.S.-led coalition had
already begun retaliation against the Taliban in Afghanistan
when Bush delivered his address.
But the world was about to be introduced to a new enemy. In
his speech to the nation, Bush condemned an "axis of evil,"
which he accused of threatening world peace. He pointed fingers
at North Korea, along with Iraq and Iran, for continuing to
build weapons of mass destruction.
The president's words reverberated across the globe. "North
Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction,
while starving its citizens," the president said. "The United
States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous
regimes to threaten us."
South Korean activists stage an anti-U.S. protest prior to a visit by President George W. Bush to Seoul in February 2002. (AP/Wide World Photos) |
The three newly pegged rogue nations fired back, accusing the
United States of "war mongering" and even "moral leprosy." Some
U.S. foreign policy experts questioned Bush's harsh rhetoric
as well. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called
the president's reference a "big mistake." Albright cautioned
against lumping the three countries together. Each poses unique
security risks and diplomatic challenges for the United States,
she argued.
In recent years, up until 2002, the main worry about North
Korea concerned its missile program and its export of sensitive
weapons technology to other countries. As 2002 wore on, however,
U.S. intelligence agencies began to suspect an even graver threat
-- that for the past two years, North Korea had pursued efforts
to enrich uranium for use in building atomic bombs with the
assistance of Pakistan.
Suspicion turned to certainty when North Korean leaders admitted
in October 2002 that they had been operating a secret nuclear
weapons program in violation of international treaties. The
country also was in violation of a 1994 agreement with the United
States in which North Korea had promised to halt its nuclear
program. (The United States wanted that agreement because it
suspected that the country already had stockpiled enough plutonium
for at least one nuclear bomb.)
After North Korea's new disclosure, the Bush administration
-- already on the brink of war with Iraq -- scrambled to respond.
2002: Nukes and the "Axis of
Evil"
1994: Diplomacy With Pyongyang
1991: End of a Superpower
1976: An Axe Fight Nearly Triggers War
1968: Spy Ships and Infiltrators
1948: From Independence to War
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