The National Committee on North Korea and the East Asia Foundation presents a special debate featuring American and South Korean experts Kelsey Davenport, Adam Mount, Yongsoo Hwang, and Bee Yun Jo, who will discuss these issues and respond to the central question of “Can we convince North Korea to denuclearize when East Asia is in an arms race?”
Over the last year, the Asia region has seen an alarming and intensifying arms race as countries react to China’s growing military threat. Analysts warn that this creates flashpoints across the region that could raise the risk of conflict and even nuclear conflict--a classic security dilemma. China’s testing of new ballistic missile systems, expansion of warships, and build-up of nuclear capable missile silos has prompted countries across the Asia Pacific including Taiwan, Australia, Japan and South Korea to modernize their military forces, deploy new missile technologies, and, in the latter case, even contemplate acquisition of nuclear weapons. North Korea is watching these developments carefully and has continued to develop and expand its own military arsenal, testing a new hypersonic glide missile earlier this year. Against this background, is it possible to still negotiate denuclearization with North Korea?
This debate is an intellectual exercise and the arguments do not necessarily reflect the actual positions of the panelists or the organizations represented.
This program was convened on December 15, 2021.
Panelists:
- Ms. Kelsey Davenport, Director for Nonproliferation Policy, Arms Control Association (ACA)
- Dr. Yong-soo HWANG, President, Korea Institute of Nuclear Non-proliferation and Control (KINAC)
- Dr. Bee Yun JO, Associate Research Fellow, Center for Security and Strategy (Defense Strategy Division), Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA)
- Dr. Adam Mount,Senior Fellow & Director, Defense Posture Project, Federation of American Scientists (FAS)
- Dr. Jim Walsh (moderator), Senior Research Associate, Security Studies Program (SSP), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Special thanks to Chan-koo Kang of the East Asia Foundation.
For additional resources check out www.ncnk.org and www.keaf.org.
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