RELEASE EMBARGO DATE: APR. 30, 2013 AT 9 AM

Panel: Nuclear Northeast Asia (Grand BallroomⅠ)
Date/Time: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 / 14:00-15:15
Talking Points for: Jun Bong-geun, Professor and Director-General, Department of National Security and Unification Studies, Korea National Diplomatic Academy

After its third nuclear test, North Korea, a determined and capable nuclear proliferator, poses a few new questions to us. First, how do we denuclearization North Korea? Neither sunshine nor regime change nor strategic patience policies worked so far. We should both to look for a bold denuclearization ideas and return to the basics. Second, to prevent North Korea from becoming a `de-facto` nuclear state, we need a new category for North Korea`s nuclear status such as `illicit nuclear arming state.` Unlike other `de-fact` ones, North Korea cheated and withdrew from the NPT, proliferates and wields nuclear threats at will. Third, how do we deal with imminent and practical nuclear safety and security problems of North Korean nuclear programs. These are too dangerous to be left alone. Finally, how are we sure of North Korea`s command and control system of nuclear weapons free from accidental and impulsive uses? What is North Korea`s nuclear weapon strategy? According to the newly-enacted North Korean law ˝Regarding further solidifying the status as a self-defense nuclear weapon state˝, the use of nuclear weapons solely lies on the last order of the Military Supreme Commander Kim Jung-un. As the chances of North Korean denuclearization remain slim for the time being, we may have to confront these inconvenient and uncomfortable issues sooner than later.