| This week, Enkhsaikhan Jargalsaikhan explores Mongolia’s response if South Korea were to go nuclear. Danielle Lynn Goh emphasises the need for future COPs to focus more on the health impacts from climate change. We also co-hosted a workshop on nuclear disarmament, and Japanese and South Korean perspectives on strategic stability.
As always, we share recent activities from our network, including analysis on the Russia-Ukraine war, nuclear security in conflict zones, and the implications of Trump’s second term for the Asia-Pacific. |
|
|
No Longer In Good Standing:
How Mongolia Would View South Korea Going Nuclear
|
|
|
Enkhsaikhan Jargalsaikhan outlines Mongolia’s options if South Korea were to go nuclear. While Mongolia would comply with any UN Security Council sanctions, its ability to respond constructively depends on a cohesive international response, and particularly a unified opposition from the UNSC. He warns that South Korea’s nuclear armament would weaken the NPT regime, destabilise regional security, and contradict Mongolia’s long-standing commitment to denuclearisation in Northeast Asia.
This essay is the third 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. |
|
|
After COP29: What’s Next for Climate and Health?
|
|
|
Danielle Lynn Goh emphasises the need for future COPs to focus more on the impacts of climate change on human health, stricter commitments to phasing out fossil fuels, and greater ambition in transitioning to renewable energy. She also calls for increased climate financing for the least developed countries of the Global South to build their capacity to adapt and mitigate, along with holistic solutions to address the interconnected crises of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
|
|
| On Thursday 28 November, APLN organized a workshop in Seoul with the support of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and East Asia Foundation. Experts discussed how Japanese and South Korean perspectives on strategic stability have evolved in recent years, how shifting threat perceptions influence new and ongoing proliferation challenges, and which policy solutions could address these issues. APLN Vice Chair Chung-in Moon, APLN members Cho Hyun, Jun Bong-Geun, Eunjung Lim, Tatsujiro Suzuki, Masakatsu Ota, Mitsuru Kitano, Policy Fellows Joel Petersson Ivre and Fang Liu participated in the workshop. |
|
|
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.
|
|
| Cheong Wooksik, Director of the Hankyoreh Peace Institute and Director of the Peace Network, argues that Donald Trump’s re-election could lead to renewed US-North Korea diplomacy, likely focusing on arms control rather than denuclearisation. While many in South Korea view this as a worst-case scenario, he contends it is time to embrace arms control as the second-best option. |
|
|
| Hoang Thi Ha, Senior Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, co-wrote a paper with Pham Thi Phuong Thao, noting that Southeast Asian countries have straddled both institutional realms advocated by China and the US, while continuing to leverage ASEAN-led mechanisms to advance their interests. |
|
|
| C Uday Bhaskar, Director of the Society for Policy Studies (SPS), New Delhi, wrote for The Tribune on the 1000-day mark of the Russia-Ukraine war, warning that a civilian nuclear accident or a deliberate military incident would be catastrophic, and that the lame-duck phase in US governance must not inadvertently contribute to either possibility. |
|
|
| Elina Noor, Senior Fellow in the Asia Programme at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discussed with Gregory Poling, Brian Eyler, and Prashanth Parameswaran how President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office will impact Southeast Asia. |
|
|
| Rabia Akhtar, founding Director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research at the University of Lahore, will participate in a roundtable discussion on December 4, hosted by the Project on Managing the Atom at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security. |
|
|
Was this newsletter forwarded to you?
Sign up here to receive weekly updates from APLN directly to your inbox.
|
|
|
Do you want direct updates on non-proliferation and disarmament issues
in the Asia-Pacific?
Before it’s in the newsletter, it’s on social media.
Follow APLN for direct updates in your favorite social media feed.
|
|
|
|
|
