北朝鮮では,建国以来,実質的に朝鮮労働党による一党独裁制が続いてきたが,最高指導者の交代はあった。そこで本稿では,金日成とその後継者である金正日の対米認識の違いによって,核問題をめぐる北朝鮮の対米外交政策が変化したことを明らかにする。第1次核危機では,金日成自身は核兵器開発をしないと公言し,米国との和解に期待をかけていた。しかし,金正日は,米国に対する警戒心が強かった。第2次核危機では,金正日は米朝対話を続けながらも,核兵器を保有することを決定した。第2次核危機において北朝鮮が公然と核兵器開発を始めたのは,金正日が金日成よりも米国に対して敵対的な見解を持っていたためといえよう。Although the one-party regime in North Korea has maintained its hold on the country, North Korea has experienced changes in leadership. We can assume that such changes of supreme leaders also make possible a change in policies toward the US and nuclear issues. Kim Il-Sung, the first supreme leader, looked for dialogue with the U.S. and denuclearization of the Korea peninsula. However, Kim Jong-Il, Kim Il-Sung's successor, had an adversarial attitude towards the U.S. during the first nuclear crisis in 1993. Kim Jong-Il declared that he would develop nuclear weapons during the second nuclear crisis in 2003 after Kim Il-Sung's death. We can see that Kim Jong-Il has made policies toward the US more hardline than those of Kim Il-Sung. We can say that that is why Kim Jong-Il personally had an adversarial attitude towards the U.S. from the first crisis onward.
