The following is a paper presented by Kent Calder, Director of the Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University, at the joint Korean Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) and International Energy Agency (IEA) workshop “Northeast Asia Energy Security and Regional Cooperation” in Seoul, Korea from May 17-18, 2004. In this paper Professor Calder argues that energy security is closely tied to political stability in Northeast Asia and that the DPRK is the center of this congruence. He discusses the importance of the Korean Economic Development Organization. (KEDO) and the need for a new or reissued group that includes representatives from the entire region and centers on natural gas and electricity interconnection projects.