7th Annual Meeting
Event Reports

7th Annual Meeting

The 7th annual meeting of the Asia–Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament convened in Jeju, ROK, 30-31 May 2017 against the backdrop of looming nuclear threats, heightened levels of regional uncertainty, and the publication of a draft text of a UN convention to prohibit the acquisition, manufacture, possession, testing, use and transfer of nuclear weapons. The meeting was held back-to-back with the 12th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity. APLN members contributed five panel discussions on nuclear themes to the Forum, and participated in several others – testimony to the expertise and standing of the APLN membership (see separate reports on the APLN panels).

The APLN meeting allowed members to review the global and regional developments relating to the prevention of nuclear weapon proliferation, measures to contain and eliminate nuclear weapons, and developments impacting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy with a focus on Asia-Pacific.

As reflected in the attached press release issued by the Co-Convenors, Professors Chung-in Moon and Ramesh Thakur, the meeting found the outlook increasingly bleak. Participants observed with profound disappointment that there had been no progress in achieving new agreements to reduce the arsenals of the two largest nuclear powers, Russia and the United States and noted that their bilateral relations showed no short-term sign of improving. Rather, the opposite: nuclear swagger had re-emerged after decades of an understanding that such behaviour is dangerous and unacceptable. At the same time, other states, all in our region, continue to expand their arsenals. And across the board there was ongoing modernization and refinement of nuclear weapon systems.

The meeting considered that the heightened anxiety resulting from regional and international developments presented both challenges and opportunities, not least for managing and eliminating nuclear threats in Northeast Asia. As recorded in the press release, the Co-Convenors strongly urged the DPRK to desist from further provocative nuclear and missile tests to allow a reopening of regional dialogue. The meeting considered that negotiations are the only way to resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula – and that preventive military strikes would not be an answer. While sanctions had their utility, in themselves they would not be enough. The immediate objective must be a freeze on all nuclear and missile tests and programs.

The APLN welcomed the promise of ROK President Moon Jae-in to take “bold” and “fundamental” measures to achieve denuclearization. The APLN is committed to working with others to keep open privately sponsored channels for dialogue, and offers expertise that might address the complex transparency and verification issues that denuclearization will entail.

The meeting also reviewed progress in the negotiation of the draft Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty and identified areas where the text should be improved. Members urged all countries to participate actively in this endeavour. The Co-Convenors also called on all countries to uphold and strengthen the existing legal constraints centred on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The meeting expressed the conviction that the P-5, and especially the US and Russia, must demonstrate global leadership by further deep cuts in their nuclear stockpiles.

The meeting also called for the development and adoption of confidence building arms control measures and strengthened security governance amongst regional nuclear actors, noting the unique complexity of strategic nuclear relations in Asia–Pacific. The meeting also underlined the importance of greater regional attention to nuclear security.

The meeting was also an opportunity to review how the growing APLN membership (now numbering 90) might promote our mandate with national authorities, and regionally; and options for even wider collaboration with like-minded national and regional partners in policy development, outreach and advocacy.

Appendix I: Program

1. Opening: Welcome Remarks and Organization Matters

– Governor of Jeju Special Province, Hee-ryong Won

– APLN Co-convenor, Ramesh Thakur

– APLN Co-convenor, Chung-in Moon

2. Session 1: Report on Activities since the 2016 Jeju

– APLN members will be invited to comment on relevant activities over the last year

3. Session 2: The Research, Publications and Dissemination Agenda

– Introductory remarks by Ramesh Thakur and John Tilemann

– Invite comment on content and priorities; offers to write; suggestions for authors

4. Session 3: Where next for Nuclear Disarmament?

– Introductory remarks by Won-soo Kim and Manpreet Sehi

5. Session 4: Where Next for Non-Proliferation?

– Introductory remarks by Angela Woodward and Sha Zukang

6. Session 5: Where Next for Nuclear Power: Safeguards, Security & Safety Implications

– Introductory remarks by Nobuyasu Abe and John Carlson

7. Session 6: Proposed Activity in Coming Year and Next Meeting

– APLN: individual and network wide outreach and advocacy

– Regional meetings and next APLN meeting

 

Appendix II: Participants

APLN members

Australia

John Carlson (Counselor to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Australia)

Gareth Evans (Chancellor, Australian National University / former Foreign Minister, Australia)

Marianne Hanson (Professor, International Relations, University of Queensland, Australia)

Peter Hayes (Honorary Professor, Center for International Security Studies, Sydney University, Australia / Director, the Nautilus Institute for Security & Sustainability)

Ramesh Thakur (Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University / Co-Convenor, APLN)

John Tilemann (Director of Research, APLN)

China

Sha Zukang (Former UN Under-Secretary General for Economic & Social Affairs)

Pan Zhenqiang (Senior Advisor to China Reform Forum / Retired Major General, PLA)

Zhao Tong (Associate, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy)

India

Lalit Mansingh (Former Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs)

Manpreet Sethi (Senior Fellow, Center for Air Power Studies)

Rakesh Sood (Former Ambassador to Conference on Disarmament, India)

Japan

Nobuyasu Abe (Former UN Under-Secretary General for Disarmament / Commissioner, Japan Atomic Energy Commission)

Singapore

Mely Cabarello Anthony (Associate Professor and Head of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, RSIS, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

South Korea

Myung-bok Bae (Senior Editorial Writer, The JoongAng Ilbo)

Yung-woo Chun (Chairman, The Korean Peninsula Future Forum / Former National Security Advisor)

Sung-hwan Kim (Former Minister of Foreign and Trade Affairs, ROK)

Won-soo Kim (Former UN Under-Secretary General for Disarmament)

Sang Hyun Lee (Director of Research Planning, the Sejong Institute)

Chung-in Moon (Distinguished University Professor, Yonsei University / Co-Convenor, APLN)

Hee-ryong Won (Governor, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province)

Malaysia

Rajmah Hussain (Former Ambassador of Malaysia to the US)

Mongolia

Nyamosor Tuya (Former Foreign Minister of Mongolia)

New Zealand

Angela Woodward (Deputy Executive Director, Verification Research, Training and Information Centre / Adjunct Senior Fellow, School of Law, University of Canterbury, New Zealand)

Vietnam

Ton Nu Thi Ninh (President, Ho Chi Minh City Peace & Development Foundation)

Special Guest

Des Browne (Vice-Chairman, Nuclear Threat Initiative / MP House of Lords / Lord Browne of Ladyton, U.K.)

Staff member

Hyung Taek Hong, Secretary General, APLN Secretariat

Jamie Cho, Program Officer, APLN Secretariat

Chan-koo Kang, Senior Program Officer, East Asia Foundation

Yoonhee Shin, Senior Program Officer, East Asia Foundation

This meeting was reported by John Tilemann, Director of Research, APLN.

 

Related Speeches

  • ‘APLN 7th Annual Meeting Keynote Speech’, by Des Browne, NTI

 

Image: Unsplash stock, Ant Rozetsky.