| This week, Akira Kawasaki and Keiko Nakamura examine Japan’s potential response to a nuclear-armed South Korea. Minh Tuan Ta calls for renewed efforts to accelerate the realisation of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ). And APLN members Melissa Parke, Manpreet Sethi, and Tong Zhao joined discussions at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum on preventing nuclear conflict and advancing nuclear disarmament.
As always, we share recent activities from our network, including analysis on inter-Korean relations, US-China relations, Sino-Indian border conflict, climate security, and more. |
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No Domino: How Japan’s Experience Can Dissuade South Korea from Going Nuclear
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Akira Kawasaki and Keiko Nakamura examine Japan’s potential response to a nuclear-armed South Korea and argue that the assumption of a domino effect – where South Korea’s nuclear armament would trigger similar actions in Japan and Taiwan – is overly simplistic. Instead, Japan’s experience in cultivating robust civil society resistance to nuclear weapons can be shared with South Korea to help prevent nuclear proliferation. Through dialogue and education, Japan and South Korea can advance a shared vision of security without nuclear weapons.
This essay is the fourth in a series that examines the South Korean nuclear debate from regional perspectives. Click here to learn more about our project Nuclear Order in East Asia. |
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Accelerating SEANWFZ:
A Timely Call for a Nuclear-Free Southeast Asia
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Minh Tuan Ta argues that the evolving international security landscape, marked by heightened nuclear risks and regional power dynamics, underscores the urgent need for ASEAN to adopt a unified, assertive, and pragmatic approach to advance Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) as a meaningful framework for regional peace and stability.
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Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2024
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On Wednesday 11 December, APLN members Melissa Parke, Manpreet Sethi, and Tong Zhao participated in this year’s Nobel Peace Prize Forum in Oslo, where they discussed strategies to mitigate the risk of nuclear war and advance toward nuclear disarmament.
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APLN has over 160 members from 22 countries in the Asia-Pacific.
Each week we feature their latest contributions
to global and regional security debates.
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| Chung-in Moon, APLN Vice Chair, co-wrote a paper with Eunju Choi, arguing that current sanctions on North Korea have failed to change its behaviour while harming inter-Korean relations, humanitarian efforts, and regional stability. Instead, an incremental, simultaneous exchange of partial sanctions relief for concrete steps toward denuclearisation could be a more effective approach. |
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| Melissa Parke, Executive Director of ICAN, delivered a speech at Nihon Hidankyo’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance ceremony, emphasising that world leaders must honour the hibakusha by urgently eliminating nuclear weapons. She also highlighted that joining the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons offers a clear pathway to achieving nuclear disarmament and ensuring a safer world for everyone. |
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| Frank O’Donnell, APLN Senior Research Adviser, co-wrote a paper with Raj Verma discussing the drivers and risks of China-India LAC military tensions in the latest issue of India Review. They observed that Beijing and New Delhi’s actions along the LAC reflect an intensifying security dilemma, marked by competitive military buildups and a focus on territorial gains over meaningful political dialogue. |
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| Mely Caballero-Anthony, Professor of International Relations at Nanyang Technological University, co-wrote a paper with Alistair Cook and introduced a volume of Third World Quarterly where scholars from within the Indo-Pacific examine the place and priority climate change garners within national and regional security discussions. |
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| Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore’s former Ambassador to the United Nations, published an article contrasting the G7 with BRICS, arguing that the former has become a ‘sunset’ organisation while the latter is emerging as a ‘sunrise’ organisation. He also contended that G7 leaders need to step back and reflect on the G7’s real purpose and raison d’etre. |
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| Rabia Akhtar, founding Director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research at the University of Lahore, wrote a report on the ways through which Asian countries can navigate the shifting sands of Sino-U.S. rivalry and its implications on security. |
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| Tong Zhao, Senior Fellow at the Nuclear Policy Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, warned that escalating US-China tensions, exacerbated by President Trump’s confrontational policies and China’s nuclear expansion, risk triggering a destabilizing arms race and undermining global nonproliferation norms. |
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