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Are We Heading for a Blow-Up on the Korean Peninsula?

Tensions are high on the Korean peninsula after North Korea tested another ballistic missile in violation of international agreements. While unsuccessful, every test will yield a development in North Korea's missile program and the move comes amid political uncertainty in South Korea, and after President Trump increased pressure on China to rein in Pyongyang. Please join us BY PHONE for a discussion of the options available to the Trump administration and how North Korea interprets the recent missile strike carried out against Syria, another regime that violates international norms and agreements.

Date & Time

Thursday
Apr. 20, 2017
10:00am – 11:00am ET
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Overview

Key Quotes

Robert Daly

“China’s position in its public pronouncements over the past year has been that tensions on the Korean peninsula are primarily an issue between North Korea and the U.S., which it posits as two squabbling children with moral equivalence between the two of them who may be leading the world toward a nuclear war.”

“The notion that China is merely a bystander is entirely false. North Korea is not China’s creature and China can’t call the shots there, but the Kim regime would not exist without China’s long term support, nor would its nuclear weapons program.”

Jean H. Lee

“Even though South Koreans are accustomed to rhetoric and provocations from North Korea, there is a new element this spring that is making people jittery, and that is Donald Trump. South Koreans see provocation from North Korea as following a certain pattern but what they don’t now is how the White House is going to react.”

“The pace of the development of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles is unprecedented and something that raises alarm.”

Robert S. Litwak

“North Korea is on the verge of a nuclear breakout.  That would be a game-changer. I called it a slow motion Cuban Missile Crisis.  A crisis that will play out, not over thirteen days as in October 1962, but over the next few years.”

“When I got into this field, I could not have conceived of a North Korea acquiring a nuclear arsenal approaching one half the size of Great Britain.”

James Person

“As President Trump seeks to secure the cooperation of China and regional allies to rein in North Korea, there is a very real possibility that the next South Korean president could oppose the efforts to tighten screws on North Korea.”

“North Korea is a paranoid regime. They believe that the possession of nuclear weapons will guarantee their security. Mistrust of a maligned and predatory world has been the basis of their foreign and national security policy since the inception of the regime in 1948.”


Hosted By

Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy

The Center for Korean History and Public Policy was established in 2015 with the generous support of the Hyundai Motor Company and the Korea Foundation to provide a coherent, long-term platform for improving historical understanding of Korea and informing the public policy debate on the Korean peninsula in the United States and beyond.  Read more

Indo-Pacific Program

The Indo-Pacific Program promotes policy debate and intellectual discussions on US interests in the Asia-Pacific as well as political, economic, security, and social issues relating to the world’s most populous and economically dynamic region.   Read more

Kissinger Institute on China and the United States

The Kissinger Institute works to ensure that China policy serves American long-term interests and is founded in understanding of historical and cultural factors in bilateral relations and in accurate assessment of the aspirations of China’s government and people.  Read more

Thank you for your interest in this event. Please send any feedback or questions to our Events staff.