Policy Forum

Steven C. Kim, Assistant Professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, writes, “given the fact that the conflicting approaches of China-Russia-ROK and US-Japan are rooted in their differing policy goals toward North Korea which, in turn, reflect their sharply divergent domestic and foreign policy interests, it will not be easy for them to reconcile their conflicting approaches until the five countries can agree on a common approach, one cannot expect that there will be substantive progress toward resolving the North Korean nuclear problem.”

The Atlantic Council Working Group on North Korea, a NGO that promotes constructive U.S. leadership and engagement in international affairs, wrote, “In the working group’s view, parallel negotiations to achieve a series of agreements on political, security and economic issues related to the nuclear deal will provide the U.S. with significantly greater diplomatic leverage for achieving its strategic policy goals of denuclearizing North Korea and establishing long-term peace and stability in Northeast Asia. Realizing a comprehensive settlement would also demonstrate the strategic value of making diplomatic common cause with an emerging China.”

Response to “Protecting the Human Rights of Comfort Women” Response to “Protecting the Human Rights of Comfort Women” Discussion of Policy Forum Online 07-027A: March 29th, 2007 Response to “Protecting the Human Rights of Comfort Women” By Bruce Klingner CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Comments by Paul Midford on “Protecting the Human Rights of Comfort Women” […]

Mindy L. Kotler, Director of Asia Policy Point, a Washington, DC nonprofit research center that studies the U.S. policy relationships with Japan and Northeast Asia, writes that “The Comfort Women issue is not yesterday’s problem. It is today’s and, if it is not dealt with now, it will be tomorrow’s problem as well. A multitude of vital U.S. interests are served by a definitive resolution of this moral issue still troubling the governments and peoples of Asia. It is also good for our very close ally Japan, as its government seeks long-overdue recognition of Japan’s 60-year history of constructive, responsible and resolutely peaceful membership in the modern world community.”

Read a discussion of the report here.

Bruce Klingner, Senior Research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, writes, “The Bush administration’s action will have far-reaching ramifications. Since it so closely followed North Korea’s threats, Pyongyang will interpret it as a U.S. capitulation. In conjunction with earlier wavering by Washington over Pyongyang’s covert uranium-based nuclear weapons program, North Korean negotiators will be emboldened to push back against U.S. demands.”

Don Oberdorfer, a former Washington Post diplomatic correspondent, author of “The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History”, and chairman of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, writes, “Four months after North Korea’s underground blast, it’s astonishing how far the negotiations aimed at reversing North Korea’s nuclear success have progressed-and how much the Bush administration has changed course But the fact that success is also a possibility is a direct result of the impressive efforts of the diplomats who are seeking denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Tessa Morris-Suzuki, 8 March 2007, Austral Policy Forum 07-06A

Leon V. Sigal, Director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council in New York and author of Disarming Strangers: Nuclear Diplomacy with North Korea, writes, “It will be much harder now to convince North Korea that the U.S. is ready to end enmity. They will not settle for words; they will insist on concrete actions. They are prepared to reciprocate if and when Washington cooperates. Only time and perseverance will tell if they are willing to give up their nuclear weapons.”

James Goodby, former U.S. ambassador to Finland and current Senior Fellow at the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at The Brookings Institution, and Markku Heiskanen, a senior Finnish diplomat, who is currently Associate Senior Fellow of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen write, “Will this new approach succeed? Critics are already sniping at it, North Korea can be counted on to be difficult, Japan is not happy that the abductee issue has not been resolved, and the issues themselves are daunting. So no one should expect miracles. But this approach deserves support. It is perhaps the last best hope for averting catastrophe…”

C. Kenneth Quinones, former State Department North Korea Director, writes, “Reaction understandably has been mixed. Paradoxically the strongest advocate appears to be President Bush, along with China and South Korea. Prime Minister Abe promptly voiced his displeasure. In Washington, both opponents and advocates of negotiations with North Korea have expressed substantial reservations. Even Pyongyang has emphasized publicly the agreement’s tentative nature. Ultimately, the lack of political support in many capitals and the new accords complexity and numerous areas of ambiguity will make successful implementation extremely difficult.”