North Korea is a major trouble area , especially regarding nuclear weapons and threats of military action . Not long after Obama took office North Korea elbowed its way back onto the international stage after a period of relative quiet , drawing accusations of planning a new long-range intercontinental ballistic missile test weeks after Obama was sworn in and performing an unannounced nuclear warhead and missile testing in late May 2009 to the disapproval of the State Department . Relations were further strained with the imprisonment of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling for their alleged illegal entry into North Korean territory on assignment for a media organization . although both women were later released on August 5 , 2009 . Later that year , Pyongyang announced its intention to terminate the 1953 armistice ending hostilities in the Korean War on May 28 , 2009 effectively restarting the nearly 60-year-old conflict , and prompting the South Korea-United States Combined Forces Command to Watchcon II , the second-highest alert level possible . In 2010 , two more major incidents with North Korea occurred : the sinking of a South Korean Navy Ship that actuated new rounds of military exercises with South Korea as a direct military response to sinking and the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong prompting the US aircraft carrier to depart for joint exercises in the Yellow Sea with the Republic of Korea Navy , to deter further North Korean military action . In light of the geopolitical developments with North Korea , the Obama Administration had called the U.S. – South Korean alliance as a " cornerstone of US security in the Pacific Region . " During Obama 's presidency North Korea 's nuclear-weapons and missile programme had become " steadily more alarming " , with his failure to stifle it being described as " glaring . " Japan , a major ally of the United States , has been engaged in a diplomatic dispute with China over control of the South China Sea . In then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 's inaugural tour of East Asia , she reassured Japanese officials of Japan 's centrality in the network of American alliances . In response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami , the United States initiated Operation Tomodachi to support Japan in disaster relief following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami earning gratitude from Japan 's minister of defense , Toshimi Kitazawa who , while visiting the '' Ronald Reagan '' , thanked its crew for its assistance as part of Operation Tomodachi saying , " I have never been more encouraged by and proud of the fact that the United States is our ally . " The Obama administrations 's South Asian foreign policy was outlined in " The Obama Administration 's Policy on South Asia " by Robert O. Blake , Jr. , Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs , who wrote " o ur goal was and remains to support the development of sovereign , stable , democratic nations , integrated into the world economy and cooperating with one another , the United States , and our partners to advance regional security and stability
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration