奥巴马执政期间，对朝鲜采取了“战略忍耐”的政策，同时深化美韩同盟，推动“萨德”系统入韩，这种以强有力的军事威慑持续对朝鲜施压的政策巩固了与韩、日的同盟关系，同时对中、俄强化防范，以此来作为亚太再平衡战略的重要组成部分，也构成了美国对朝鲜半岛政策的主线。然而“战略忍耐”以及“萨德”入韩非但没有缓和半岛局势，反而引起东北亚地区的持续动荡。特朗普政府执政以来，正在酝酿新的半岛政策，而这种政策将受到美国国内、东亚盟友以及域内大国的制约。
U.S.-DPRK relations have been in trouble for decades，which persisted through Obama administration with DPRK’s nuclear program continuing to develop. The options Obama chose were to maintain its hard line posture toward DPRK，consolidating alliances with ROK and Japan while taking precautions on China and Russia. Obama’s “Strategic Patience” and the THAAD deployment in ROK，however，did not successfully prevent DPRK from developing its nuclear capabilities but induced tensions in Northeast Asia instead. Under Trump，a new policy toward the Korean Peninsula is being formed but to be restrained by the domestic dissent and concerns by its allies and other major powers in the region.
