[Citizen College] North Korea’s Nuclear Arms and International Relations in Northeast Asia

On June 22, 2018, the 10th lecture of “Citizen College: Citizens Between Life and Knowledge” was held by Seongbuk Village Citizenship Education Center and the Korea University Peace and Democracy Institute(PDI). The 10th speaker was Professor Dong Sun Lee of Korea University.

The topic of the lecture was “North Korea’s Nuclear Arms and International Relations in Northeast Asia”. He critically analysed the hollow belief of making East-Asian Community through checking out many problems which arose from the relationship with neighboring countries due to North Korea’s nuclear development. A typical example of North Korea’s nuclear development is the illusion of a security dilemma, distrust caused by bubbles, and the New Cold War. North Korea’s nuclear arsenal has fostered a security dilemma among neighboring countries. The attempt to alleviate the security anxiety caused by the North Korean nuclear program has created an uneasy situation for third countries. In addition, North Korea’s nuclear development has created a “bubble” that overestimates the bilateral relations. On the other hand, the claim that the North Korean nuclear issue is bringing a new Cold War, which is confronted by the two camps of South Korea/U.S.A./Janan and North Korea/China/Russia, is fiction. North Korea’s nuclear development is rather a factor of disagreement between China and North Korea. The fundamental solution to these problems is the elimination of the North Korean nuclear issue. However, it is necessary to search for a new solution by changing the idea because the solution of the existing measures is insufficient. (Summary: Moon-Hyung Lee)