Introduction
Kathleen Stephens
Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (2008-2011)
Panel I: Historical Background
Richard Lawless
Founder and Principal
NMV International, LLC
Clint Work
Fellow and Director of Academic Affairs
Korea Economic Institute of America
Andy Hong
Taehwa Hong
MPhil candidate in Politics and International Studies
University of Cambridge
S. Paul Choi
Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow
RAND Corporation
Panel II: Domestic Discourse
Jeongmin Kim
Lead Correspondent
NK News
Karl Friedhoff
Marshall M. Bouton Fellow for Asia Studies
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Erik Mobrand
Korea Policy Chair
RAND Corporation
Bo Ram Kwon
Research Fellow
Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA)
Lunch Keynote Address
Siegfried Hecker
Distinguished Professor of Practice
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Panel III: International Implications
Heather Williams
Director of the Project on Nuclear Issues
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Caroline Milne
Research Staff Member, Strategy, Forces, and Resources Division
Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA)
Yun Sun
Senior Fellow and Co-Director
East Asia Program Director of the China Program Stimson Center
Event Details
09:00 AM - 09:15 AM – Introduction
Ambassador (ret.) Kathleen Stephens, President, KEI
09:15 AM - 10:30 AM – Panel I: Historical Background
- Moderator: Richard Lawless, Founder and Principal, NMV International, LLC; former U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs; and author of Hunting Nukes: A Fifty-Year Pursuit of Atomic Bomb Builders and Mischief Makers
- Paper Topics:
- History’s Long Shadow: The Contradictions in the U.S. Commitment to Korea (Clint Work, KEI)
- South Korea’s Drive Toward Deterrent Capabilities (Andy Hong, KEI)
- Comparing the 1970s and 2020s Debates over South Korea's Potential Nuclear Armament (Taehwa Hong, University of Cambridge)
- US-ROK Alliance Consultative Mechanisms: Strengthening Deterrence, Providing Reassurance, and Enduring Challenge (S. Paul Choi, StratWays Group)
10:35 AM - 11:50 AM – Panel II: Domestic Discourse
- Moderator: Jeongmin Kim, Lead Correspondent at NK News and Editorial Director at KOREA PRO, based in Seoul, South Korea.
- Paper Topics:
- Longitudinal Attitudes in South Korea on Nuclear Proliferation (Karl Friedhoff, Chicago Council on Global Affairs)
- Beyond U.S. Credibility Concerns: Factors Driving the Nuclear Weapons Debate in South Korea (Jennifer Ahn, Council on Foreign Relations )
- A Nuke for a Nuke? Public Debate and Political Party Views on Nuclear Acquisition in South Korea (Erik Mobrand, RAND Corporation)
- Detente or Degradation: Would ROK nuclear weapons hinder or facilitate inter-Korean relations? (Bo Ram Kwon, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA)
11:50 AM - 12:40 PM – Lunch and Keynote Address
Dr. Siegfried Hecker, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (virtual)
Lunch will be provided to those attending in person.
12:45 PM - 02:00 PM – Panel III: International Implications
- Moderator: Mark Fitzpatrick, Associate Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Member of the Board of Directors at the Korea Economic Institute of America; during 26-year career in U.S. State Department, served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Non-Proliferation (acting) and, earlier in his career, as North Korea desk officer.
- Paper Topics:
- Global Reverberations of a Nuclear South Korea (Heather Williams, CSIS)
- Alternative Futures: ROK Nuclear Weapons and the US-ROK Alliance (Caroline Milne, Institute for Defense Analyse)
- Japanese Protestation and Pragmatism Towards a Nuclear South Korea (Terrence Matsuo, KEI)
- [Working Title] The View from Beijing: Chinese Perspectives on South Korean Nuclear Weapons (Yun Sun, Stimson Center)