Dear members and colleagues,

 

APLN wishes you good health and safety during a time of unease with the Covid-19 pandemic. As with February, APLN sends you biweekly updates regarding our activities and that of our members for March.

 

APLN’s Activities

 

On March 11, 2020, our seventh column was featured on the APLN Corner of the Korea Times—”Nuclear Powers Must Lead on Arms Control”, written by Tong Zhao. The column highlights the conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that will begin in April in New York and the divisive issues that will be discussed.

 

APLN has also added new videos to our YouTube Channel. Trailers from APLN-EAF’s Joint Seminar—“Key Decision Points in DPRK’s Nuclear Program” with Dr. Siegfried S. Hecker and APLN-KNDA’s Joint Conference (part of a series) also with Dr. Siegfried S. Hecker on “Howto Break the Stalemate with North Korea’s Technical POVs” are now accessible.

And, last but not least, APLN is happy to introduce you to   APLN’s Book Review Series   . Our first book review, written by APLN Fellow Samuel Gardner, is on   The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War   (2020) by Fred Kaplan.   The Bomb   historically delves into American military planning around nuclear weapons since Harry Truman, and reviews declassified document to give clear view on internal debate, failed policy shifts, and bureaucratic policies since the Cold War. The book review is attached to this email, so please have a read!

 

Members’ Activities

In addition to his Korea Times column, Tong Zhao’s paper on “China’s Dilemmas over Stalled North Korean Denuclearization Talks” has been published by the Panel on Peace and Security of Northeast Asia (PSNA) on February 21, 2020. Zhao analyzes the Chinese views about North Korea’s commitment to denuclearization and Chinese interests in denuclearization talks.

Yongsoo Hwang’s paper on “The Overview of the Adaptive Cooperative Threat Reduction Proposal for theDenuclearization of the DPRK—Non-Governmental Perspectives” was also published by PSNA on February 15, 2020. This paper elaborates in detail the political, financial, and technical issues surrounding denuclearization of the DPRK.

More from February with Ramesh Thakur’s article for the Japan Times that was published on February 2, 2020. “North Korea’s 2020 Vision: ANuclear Shield, Not a Sword” highlights the policy decisions that have both augmented and mitigated obstacles surrounding denuclearization and peace. Thakur raises questions regarding the differences in perspective on denuclearization, and hopes for continued diplomatic processes and communication between countries.

 

References

Foreign Policy has published an interesting article on “China’s Nuclear Arms Are a Riddle Wrapped in Mystery”­­ by Michael Mazza and Henry Sokolski on March 13, 2020 on Beijing’s plans to expand its weapons capabilities through new missiles and anti-satellite devices and nuclear material production above civilian needs.

Rakesh Sood wrote an article in February, titled “A Sneeze, A Global Cold and Testing Times forChina” for The Hindu. He brings to attention lessons from Kerala and its management with Nipah in light of Covid-19. Sood notes that the ways in which China deals with its health crisis will have implications on its credibility both domestically and globally.

Nick Routley in his article, “The Cost and Composition of America’s Nuclear Weapons Arsenal”, provides a map of nuclear weapons in the U.S., deployment data, and America’s nuclear weapons budget that presents the complex networks of the U.S. nuclear program.

APLN hopes that everyone takes care and that improvement of current circumstances with warmer weather will come.

 

The APLN Secretariat

Asia Pacific Leadership Network

102 Sajik-ro, Jongno-gu

Seoul, Republic of Korea (03169)

Tel: +82-2-2135-2170