Geopolitics, Geo-economics, and Denuclearization of North Korea: Alternative Approaches

APLN and the Korean National Diplomatic Academy co-organized an international conference on “Geopolitics, Geo-economics, and North Korea’s Denuclearization.” The conference featured specialists from Australia, the U.S., China, Russia, Japan, the Switzerland, and South Korea. It was well attended by South Korean government officials, academic specialists, and journalists.

The conference was commenced by Kim Joon-Hyung, the Chancellor of Korea National Diplomatic Academy who gave the welcoming remarks followed by Moon Chung-in, Vice-Chairman and Executive Director of APLN, who gave the opening remarks.

Session 1 titled, “Geopolitical Barriers to North Korea’s Denuclearization,” was chaired by Shin Dong-Ik, Former Ambassador to Austria and to the United Nations in Vienna. This session consisted of three presentations on the following topics:

1. “Does the U.S. really want North Korea’s Denuclearization?: Shifting Geopolitical Calculation” by Robert Carlin, Visiting Scholar, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University
2. “North Korean Nuke in Chinese Geopolitical Equation” by Shen Dingli, Associate Dean, Institute of International Studies, Fudan University
3. “The North Korean Nuke and ROK’s Geopolitical Calculation” by Choi Wooseon, Professor, Korea National Diplomatic Academy

The Luncheon Session titled, “How to Break the Current Nuclear Stalemate on the Korean Peninsula” was moderated by Moon Chung-in with panelists Robert Carlin, Peter Hayes, and Siegfried Hecker.

Session 2 titled, “Denuclearization of North Korea and Geo-economic Opportunities and Challenges” was chaired by Jun Bong-geun, Acting President, Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, KNDA. This session featured three presentations on the following topics:

1. “International Sanctions on North Korea: Have They Been Effective?” by Thomas Biersteker, Professor, Graduate Institute, Geneva.
2. “Walking on a Tight Rope?: Geopolitical Calculation and China’s Sanctions on North Korea” by Yeon Wonho, Research Fellow, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.
3. “Moon’s New Northern Policy, Putin’s Eastern Policy and DPRK” by Marina Kulka, Associate Professor, Far Eastern Federal University.
4. “Inter-Korean Economic Relations and International Sanctions Regime: Can the ROK Overcome Their Trade-off?” by Shim Sang-min, Professor, Korea National Diplomatic Academy.
5. “Geo-energy, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, and Energy Security of North Korea” by Suzuki Tatsujiro, Director and Professor, Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA) at Nagasaki University.

The two sessions were followed by a Wrap-up Roundtable titled “In Search of New Breakthrough,” chaired by Moon Chung-in and featuring panelists Peter Hayes, Kim Joon-hyung, Jun Bong-geun and Lee Sang-hyun.

The conference was concluded with a dinner hosted by APLN.

Please refer to the attached PDF for a full summary of all the presentations and discussion sessions.