CAPP Events: 2005

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Korean National Defense University Sponsors Conference on Nuclear Weapons in North Korea

On June 8, the Korean National Defense University (KNDU) sponsored a conference in Seoul on entitled "Strategic Implications of North Korea's Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Policies toward North Korea." RAND and KNDU recently signed a memorandum of agreement to cooperate on Korea-related security issues and conference was a first effort under that agreement.

Paul Davis and Bruce Bennett from RAND were invited to speak at the conference, which was co-sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. There was one other U.S. speaker (from the University of Maryland), and 3 speakers from Korean universities. The conference was attended by about 150 Korean defense experts, including the KNDU President, LTG Sang-Tae Lee, the KNDU Vice President, staff several members of the National Assembly, many participants from the Defense Ministry, and many academics. The conference came just days before Korean President Roh visited President Bush to talk about the North Korean nuclear weapon threat.

Bruce Bennett spoke about the size and character of the likely North Korean nuclear weapon threat, about how North Korea might use nuclear weapons, and about what South Korea and the United States should do about this threat. Paul Davis talked about the strategic implications of North Korea's nuclear programs to the balance on the Korean peninsula, to regional security affairs, and to crisis stability. In a final panel, Paul, Bruce, and several of the other speakers answered 3 questions: (1) Would NK give nucs up (and if so under what conditions), (2) what actions can be taken to get NK to negotiate, and (3) what should be the strategy for proceeding against NK if they do not agree to give up nuclear weapons?

There was considerable interest in the RAND presentations. Bruce and Paul both met with a group of RAND "alumni" that included the current ROK JCS Vice Chairman, the Director of Emergency Planning, and a National Assemblyman. Bruce was asked by the Embassy to do a presentation at two major Universities in Taejon. He also did an interview for the Chosun Monthly, a major news periodical in South Korea, which resulted in an article in the July issue.