APLN and Jeju Peace Institute’s Special Session at Jeju Forum 2022

On 14-16 September, the annual Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2022 was held focused on the theme of “Beyond Conflict, Towards Peace: Coexistence and Cooperation.” 

On 15 September, a joint APLN-Jeju Peace Institute session was held at the forum on the theme “Preventing Nuclear War Through Crisis Management: What We Can Learn From the Cuban Missile Crisis Today.”

Panelists:

• Kim Sook, Executive Director of Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future and Former Ambassador of the ROK to the UN (Moderator)
• Mariana Budjeryn, Senior Research Associate with the Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center
• Lee Geunwook, Professor at Sogang University
• Shatabhisha Shetty, APLN Executive Director
• Jon Wolfsthal, Senior Advisor to Global Zero and a member of the Science and Security Board at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
• Alec Chung, Research Director at the Jeju Peace Institute

In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the possibility of using nuclear weapons when the invasion of Ukraine did not go as he had expected. Putin’s remarks raised fears that a Russian nuclear attack in Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale global nuclear war. Meanwhile, some states are developing limited tactical nuclear weapons, potentially increasing the likelihood of nuclear weapons use.

Thus, we are currently living in an era where crisis management surrounding nuclear weapons has become more important than ever.

Fortunately, humanity has experienced overcoming a nuclear crisis. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, which occurred sixty years ago, the two great powers the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to solve the crisis through negotiation. Therefore, today’s nuclear powers must possess the capability and knowledge to peacefully solve potential nuclear crises through crisis management and negotiation.

What lessons can the Cuban Missile Crisis teach today’s nuclear powers and their leaders about crisis management? Can we gain the knowledge necessary to overcome any potential nuclear crises by studying the Cuban Missile Crisis? World-renowned scholars and diplomats gathered to discuss and address these questions through this session.

Participants spoke on the Cuban Missile Crisis in general, reasons for avoiding a nuclear war between the U.S. and China, the situation of the Taiwan Strait, and the situation in the Korean Peninsula. They also discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in connection with preventing the use of nuclear weapons today.

Watch the video here.