After 1953, North Korea and South Korea sometimes discussed reunification, but they could not agree on conditions. North Korea wanted an exclusively Communist Korean Peninsula, but as a successful capitalist state, South Korea did not want to jeopardize its free system of government.
In 1993, North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This treaty was designed to stop the proliferation, or increase in number, of atomic weapons around the world. However, the following year, North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear facilities in return for economic assistance from the United States. Leaders from North Korea and South Korea began talks again in 2000, but in 2002, North Korea announced that it was resuming development of its nuclear program. The United States and other nations worked together to try to persuade North Korea to stop this effort.
