A Nuclear North Korea:
Nonproliferation Issues and Beyond

Session: Regency Room
Date/Time: February 19, 2013 / 14:00-15:15

Moderator: Lee Jung-Hoon, Yonsei University

Speakers:

Bruce Bennett, RAND Corporation
Michishita Narushige, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
Alexander Vorontsov, Russia Academy of Sciences

Rapporteur: Duyeon Kim, Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation

Press Release Brief

1. Lee Jung-Hoon, Professor at Yonsei University, noted that the international community’s inability to contain North Korea has compelled South Korea to discuss military options to offset North Korea’s asymmetric capabilities.

2. Bruce Bennett, Senior Defense Analyst at the RAND Corporation, stated that North Korea uses nuclear weapons every day, they just don’t launch them, but they use them regularly.

3. Michishita Narushige, Associate Professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, estimated that North Korea had around 10 bombs and that this test seems to have been conducted with a miniaturized version of a nuclear device.

4. Alexander Vorontsov, Head of the Korea and Mongolia Studies Department at the Russia Academy of Sciences, noted that a policy of engagement and strategic compromise has proven quite successful. It put the parties on an equal footing and in some cases have even resulted in a cessation of nuclear activities.