Policy Forum

Lyuba Zarsky, CoDirector Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development presented at Conference on Sustainability, Trade and Investment: Which Way Now for the WTO? Royal Institute of International Affairs London, Great Britain March 27-28, 2000 The collapse of the OECD’s negotiations over a Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), as well as the WTO trade talks in […]

This article is by Bradley Martin, Contributing Editor, Asia Times Online, Bangkok. It appeared on Asia Times Online. Martin discusses the question of what would happen if the US were to withdraw its troops from the ROK. He warns that doing so would likely lead to an ROK arms buildup that could spark a regional arms race. He also argues that without the automatic intervention promised by US troop presence, the DPRK may decide to launch an invasion if it sees the US occupied elsewhere on the globe.

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Mr. Wit, a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution, is a former US State Department official who worked on DPRK issues from 1993-1999. Wit reviews the history of US President Bill Clinton’s engagement policy of the DPRK. He argues that the Agreed Framework has been successful in preventing the DPRK from developing a nuclear weapons arsenal, but has not been fully implemented across the board. At present, the Perry Report has restored some stability to US-DPRK relations. Further progress in the near future could make it difficult for the next US administration to make drastic changes in policy, although a Republican president is likely to take a somewhat different approach toward the DPRK.

This essay is by Indong Oh, M.D., a fellow and director of Korea-2000, a Los Angeles-based research council on Korean unification. Dr. Oh argues that the continuance of US wartime operational control over ROK forces under the Combined Forces Command hinders the realization of ROK-DPRK dialogue. He calls for shifting the emphasis in peace talks away from US-DPRK bilateral talks and towards direct inter-Korean negotiations.

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Nautilus Institute PFO 00-01: Regional Approach to Korean Peninsula Security Nautilus Institute PFO 00-01: Regional Approach to Korean Peninsula Security Comments on: A Regional Approach to Korean Peninsula Security PFO 00-01B: January 11, 2000 By Bo-Hyug Suh, Institute of Political Economy of Korea Copyright (c) 2000 Nautilus of America/The Nautilus Institute CONTENTS Contents of This […]

This essay was contributed by Hwal-Woong Lee, former Foreign Service Officer for the ROK Government and currently a Fellow at Korea-2000, an LA based research council on Korean reunification. Lee argues that the continued presence of US troops in the ROK prevents a comprehensive settlement of Korean Peninsula security issues. Instead, he calls for a regionally based approach that would include participation by all interested countries.

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Nautilus Institute PFO 00-01: Regional Approach to Korean Peninsula Security Nautilus Institute PFO 00-01: Regional Approach to Korean Peninsula Security Comments on: A Regional Approach to Korean Peninsula Security PFO 00-01C: March 13, 2001 By Charles Ju Contents of This Report: I. Introduction II. Comments by Charles Ju III. Nautilus Invites Your Responses Go to […]

This essay is by Won-Ki Choi, Editor and Researcher with the Joongang Daily in Seoul. The author reviews the political situation in the DPRK, and how it has been affected by the ongoing economic difficulties. He argues that policies toward the DPRK should be consistent and based on a firm grasp of the reality of the DPRK’s situation. He concludes that, ultimately, the international community will have to lead a large-scale development effort for the DPRK.

This essay is by Cheong Wooksik, a representative of the Civil Network for a Peaceful Korea, and was translated by You Sanghee. Cheong compares the two recent reports on US policy toward the DPRK; that of former Defense Secretary William Perry and that of the US Congress’s North Korea Advisory Group. Cheong argues that while the Perry report was designed to provide policy alternatives, the Republican report was meant to criticize the Clinton administration’s DPRK policy. He concludes that while, compared to the Republican report, the Perry report appears progressive, it makes no new proposals for reducing the reliance on military deterrence on the Korean Peninsula.

This essay was contributed by Hwal-Woong Lee, former Foreign Service Officer for the ROK Government and currently a Fellow at Korea-2000, an LA based research council on Korean reunification. The author argues that the Perry Report offers little hope to end the DPRK’s weapons of mass destruction programs, which he says are a response to the US threat to the DPRK’s security. He maintains that, in the absence of a political solution that would include the withdrawal of US troops from the ROK, the Perry Report only puts the US and the DPRK on a course to eventual conflict.