Korea's Place in the Axis.

On January 29, 2002, President George W. Bush announced a new US policy toward the Korean Peninsula--by stating that North Korea belongs to an 'axis of evil.' The problem with this policy is that it seems to contradict strategy suggested by Bush seven months earlier. This policy has raised questions such as Does the administration know what it is doing on North Korea? and Does it actually have any policy at all? Critics of the policy are wrong because the president's policy does not invoke a contradiction of his previous engagement strategy, and most people will realize how well-suited this strategy, called Hawk engagement, is to the complex realities of North Korea. This strategy would not use engagement without an exit strategy, but rather as an exit strategy. If the administration can articulate and implement its approach more coherently, it may win over the critics.