Policy Forum

This is an except from a paper by Hideki Yamaji, 2003-2004 Japan Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies. Mr. Yamaji writes: Japan will need the U.S. military presence for a long time in order to build a lasting trust with the ROK, but definitely not forever. Some day in the future, Japan and the ROK will be able to form an axis of freedom and democracy in East Asia.

The following paper by Mark Selden closely examines the American occupation of Japan following the Second World War. He compares it to the current US role in Afghanistan and Iraq. Selden argues that post-war reconstruction in both cases takes a similar form, especially in regards to the use of US military bases and assets. But, he suggests, the dependency built into the Afghani and Iraqi governments by the United States leaves them lacking in legitimacy. It has also weakened the very institutions in Iraq and Afghanistan that bolstered and supported the US occupation of Japan decades ago.

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SeldonDiscussion.html Discussion of “Notes From Ground Zero: Power, Equity and Postwar Reconstruction in Two Eras” PFO 04-25A : June 30, 2004 Discussion of “Notes From Ground Zero: Power, Equity and Postwar Reconstruction in Two Eras” by Mark Selden CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Comments on Mark Selden Comments by Scott Snyder Response by Mark Selden III. […]

In a NAPSNet policy forum essay entitled “Lessons Learned: The Road Ahead,” Joel Wit, Daniel Poneman, and Robert Gallucci lay out seven lessons from the 1994 Agreed Framework negotiations that bear directly on the current six party talks in Beijing.

The following is Wada Haruki’s analysis of the larger stakes in the recent Japan-North Korea negotiations. Setting off the emotional issues of the kidnapping of Japanese against the record of Japanese colonialism in Korea, Wada examines the prospects for negotiating an agreement that could become the basis for defusing the range of contentious issues that continue to swirl around a nuclear North Korea facing acute problems of starvation and isolated from its powerful neighbor and historic antagonist, Japan. Wada Haruki is Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo.

In his essay, Mark Caprio, a specialist on Japan-Korea Relations and professor at Rikkyo University, asks the question “Will North Korea follow Libya’s example and renounce its nuclear weapons programs?” Consequently, Caprio proposes that the United States must take the initiative to create the conciliatory atmosphere needed to nurture peaceful change rather than anticipate North Korea following the path of Libya. A plan that addresses the needs and interests of the North Korean state and by extension the peace and security of Northeast Asia, offers a better chance of securing North Korean cooperation in disclosure and disarmament of its nuclear arms programs, if, in fact, these weapons do indeed exist.

In this essay, Byung Chul Koh, director of the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, asserts that Kim Jong Il’s recent visit to China is a significant event with meaningful implications beyond just North Korea-China relations. Rather, it potentially impacts the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, as well as all of Northeast Asia. However, the single most important outcome of Kim’s visit was North Korea’s reaffirmation of their commitment to the continuation of six-party talks. What is not known, however, is whether the North has agreed or intends to display “patience and flexibility” in a true sense.

Kim Jong Il Should Read George Bush’s Lips PFO 04-20: April 30, 2004 Kim Jong Il Should Read George Bush’s Lips   by Peter Hayes CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Essay by Peter Hayes III. Nautilus Invites Your Responses     I. Introduction   This piece by Peter Hayes, Executive Director of the Nautilus Institute, argues […]

This piece by Peter Hayes, Executive Director of the Nautilus Institute, argues that the recent offer by the United States to send assistance to North Korea to aid in the recovery of Ryongchon reveals a significant shift in US policy. Never before in the lead up to nuclear talks has the Bush Administration ever made a proactive offer to assist the DPRK. More importantly, Kim Jong Il must recognize this subtle yet profound shift, and not let the opportunity slip away.

Ashton Ormes, Research Director of Defense Prisoner of War, Missing Personnel Office April 19, 2004 It is estimated that the remains of over 5,000 Americans lost in the Korean War are still in the DPRK. Since 1996, the US Department of Defense’s POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) has been successful in arranging with the government of […]