| In our latest update, APLN issues a joint statement from leading experts urging the United States and China to place Korean Peninsula security on their bilateral agenda. Frank O’Donnell argues that the United States, South Korea, and China urgently synchronise their diplomatic strategies and pursue a framework of “stable co-existence” to contain escalating risks. Marianne Hanson warns that without genuine reforms and restored reciprocity, the 2026 NPT RevCon risks deepening global divisions and eroding the nonproliferation regime. And Tianjiao Jiang explores how China’s 2025 White Paper marks a proactive shift toward governing the cross-domain entanglement of AI, space, and cyber technologies.
As always, we highlight recent activities from our network, including analyses on security on the Korean Peninsula, India’s nuclear energy, the history of China’s nuclear program, and South Korea’s energy strategy. |
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Breaking the Korean Peninsula Nuclear Stalemate: Recommendations for the United States, South Korea, and China
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A group of leading American and South Korean experts have issued a joint statement coordinated by APLN, calling on leaders of the United States and China to place Korean Peninsula security on their bilateral agenda. Drawing on a workshop co-hosted with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), the statement urges a shift toward “stable co-existence” as the basis for renewed negotiations with Pyongyang, moving beyond previous denuclearisation-focused frameworks that have failed to yield results since the collapse of the Hanoi Summit in 2019. Key recommendations include establishing a high-level US-ROK task-force, appointing a US Special Envoy for the DPRK, and decoupling cooperation on the peninsula from the broader US-China relationship.
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Breaking the Korean Peninsula Nuclear Stalemate: Recommendations for the United States, South Korea, and China
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Frank O’Donnell builds on the statement’s recommendations in a new policy brief that takes a deeper look at the rapidly evolving North Korean nuclear threat and charting a path toward renewed diplomacy. He argues that “stable co-existence” offers a more realistic foundation for engagement and lays out a detailed recommendations for the United States, the Republic of Korea, and China. His proposals include appointing a US Special Envoy, establishing a US Liaison Office in Pyongyang, pursuing an end-of-war declaration, and clarifying ROK civil nuclear safeguards.
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The 2026 Review Conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Faces More Challenges Than Ever Before
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| Marianne Hanson examines the mounting pressures confronting the NPT during the 2026 Review Conference, arguing that the treaty faces a qualitatively new and more dangerous set of challenges than at any previous point in its history. She identifies several major trends shaping the current NPT review cycle and warns that without meaningful progress on disarmament, accountability, and nuclear risk reduction, the 2026 NPT RevCon risks deepening divisions within the global nuclear order. |
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Chinese Perspectives on Arms Control and Strategic Stability in Emerging Technologies
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Tianjiao Jiang analyses Beijing’s recent white paper, “China’s Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-proliferation in the New Era,” arguing that it signals a shift toward a more proactive Chinese stance on global security governance. As “cross-domain entanglement” in space, cyber, and AI increasingly blurs the boundaries of modern warfare, Jiang offers concrete recommendations for US-China cooperation to establish the multi-layered safeguards necessary to prevent an AI-induced strategic crisis.
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APLN has over 180 members from 24 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, wrote a commentary for the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies on the security implications of the US-Israel war against Iran on the Korean Peninsula. He suggests that the South Korean government should urgently work to reduce tension, build confidence, and accelerate peaceful coexistence with North Korea. |
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| Manpreet Sethi, APLN Senior Research Adviser and Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Aerospace Power and Strategic Studies, explained the significance of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor on India’s nuclear energy plans and energy strategy. |
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| Tong Zhao, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote for China Books Review on the history of China’s nuclear program and the myth of nuclear exceptionalism, drawing critical lessons for the present and future. |
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| Eunjung Lim, Professor at the Division of International Studies, Kongju National University (KNU), wrote for The National Interest that South Korea sees new opportunities in energy, shipping, and shipbuilding—but also growing geopolitical risks tied to US-China-Russia competition. |
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