“Yes I Can!” Byungjin and Kim Jong Un’s Strategic Patience

NAPSNET Special Report Peter Hayes and Roger Cavazos March 29, 2016 I.  INTRODUCTION North Korea upgraded its nuclear and military power and grew its economy slightly, thereby realizing Kim Jong Un’s byungjin line. It also attempted to open new external fronts and to coerce the South to cooperate on its terms, but failed. Instead, it […]

The Search for Interim Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage in South Korea

Plans call for a continued expansion in South Korea’s fleet of nuclear reactors, but at the same time, facilities for the temporary storage of spent fuel, mostly in at-reactor pools, continue to fill up. Negotiations between the nuclear industry and central government agencies on one side, and local host communities on the other, for siting of interim spent fuel storage facilities, let alone permanent waste disposal facilities, have been largely ineffective to date, due in large part to a combination of the tactics used by authorities in approaching local communities, and a lack of unbiased information about nuclear facilities on the part of local stakeholders. In the last few years, a new effort to engage host communities has been undertaken, and shows some promise, though much work remains before agreements on facility siting can be reached.

Energy Security and the Role of Green Economies in East Asia

by David von Hippel Contributing authors: Yi Wang, Kae Takase, Tetsunari Iida, Myungrae Cho, and Sun-Jin Yun 28 July 2015 I. Introduction David von Hippel writes that following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, there is an increasing ‘recognition that new paradigms are needed to deal with expanding complexity in the relationships between the issues and actors […]

Nuclear Threat and Korean Reunification

by Peter Hayes 1 June 2015 I. Introduction In this Policy Forum Peter Hayes writes that “reunification will become harder and increase in social, economic, and security cost the longer and deeper the DPRK develops nuclear weapons. The faster nuclear weapons are removed from the scene, the sooner reunification can commence at a cheaper cost, with […]

A comprehensive agreement for security in Northeast Asia

by Morton Halperin 16 March 2015 Introduction In this Policy Forum Morton H. Halperin writes ‘A new approach is clearly needed to prevent the DPRK from testing and deploying its operational nuclear weapons capability and to persuade it to de-nuclearize.’ Halperin lays out a plan for achieving a comprehensive security agreement in Northeast Asia, ‘one […]

ADIZ: a four letter word

Roger Cavazos asserts that spring on the Korean peninsula is often associated with provocations. This spring …

Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 10 October 2013

DETERRENCE: Scary Default Scenarios Based on Faulty Treasury Department Release DPRK: North Korea threatens preemptive attack on U.S., South Korea ENERGY SECURITY: IPCC Issues Stark Warning Over Global Warming: Call to ‘Stop Dithering About Fossil Fuel Cuts’ as Expert Panel Warns Entire Globe is Affected GOVERNANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: State Clumsy in Managing Conflicts CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: Understanding the Adaptive […]