AESNet Top Story: Updates on the ROK Energy Sector and the ROK LEAP Model, and Implications of a Regional Alternative Path for the ROK
The Nautilus Institute released this paper from Nautilus’ Asian Energy Security Workshop held May 11 – 14 in Beijing, China. The paper provides an update on the Republic of Korea energy sector and measures regarding energy and environmental security. The paper also details progress made on a ROK national dataset and national and regional energy pathway scenarios using Long Range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) software.
Read the full Essay
NAPSNet Top Story: U.S. Envoy to Meet With China on N. Korea
The Washington Post reported that amid signs that the DPRK is prepared to formally reject a US proposal for ending its nuclear programs, a senior US diplomat will hold talks in the PRC on the next round of six-nation talks aimed at resolving the impasse over the DPRK’s nuclear ambitions, the State Department said. Joseph R. DeTrani, the special envoy for negotiations with the DPRK, will meet with senior PRC officials as part of a “regular and expected pattern of diplomatic consultations,” State Department spokesman J. Adam Ereli said. Other US officials said, however, that the trip had been hastily arranged over the weekend, when the DPRK issued a statement denouncing the latest US proposal.
US Economic Diplomacy Toward North Korea
This essay by Marcus Noland, Senior Fellow at the Institute for International Economics, argues that “the US conditions its international economic diplomacy on a variety of political concerns that redound to the detriment of the DPRK.” Thus as long as “the trend is toward adding more such conditions to US policy, and absent significant changes in North Korean behavior, these considerations will remain relevant for the foreseeable future.”
Excerpt From “Dealing With North Korea’s Nuclear Programs”
This statement by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James A. Kelly was made to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 15th. The statement summarized publicly for the first time the seven-page U.S. proposal presented to North Korea at the most recent Beijing negotiations.