Past Event

North Korea: Is Denuclearization Dead?

A discussion on the pros, cons, and implications of recent discourse suggesting the US shift its approach on North Korea from denuclearization to arms control.

Past Event in

December 14, 2022 from 2:00 - 3:30 PM (US Eastern)

December 15, 2022 from 4:00 AM - 5:30 AM (Asia/Seoul)

RSVP for the Event

  • December 14, 2022
  • 2:00 - 3:30 PM (US Eastern)
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Event Took Place

  • December 14, 2022
  • 2:00 - 3:30 PM (US Eastern)

Recent discourse on North Korea has suggested that the United States abandon the goal of denuclearization and focus instead on arms control. This panel will examine the pros and cons of such a move for future negotiations with Pyongyang as well as the implications for non-proliferation in Northeast Asia.

Featured Speakers

Robert Gallucci, Distinguished Professor, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service

Robert L. Gallucci is a Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. As As Ambassador-at-Large and Special Envoy for the US Department of State, he dealt with the threats posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. He was chief US negotiator during the North Korean nuclear crisis of 1994. He has also served as Dean of the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service and president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Siegfried S. Hecker, Distinguished Professor of Practice, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Siegfried Hecker is a Professor of Practice at James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. He was previously with Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a research professor in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford. He is director emeritus of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he served as director from 1986 to 1997 and as senior fellow until July 2005.

Sharon Squassoni, Research Professor of International Affairs, George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs

Squassoni’s research, writing and policy-making has focused on reducing risks from nuclear energy and weapons for decades. She has held senior positions at the State Department, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the Congressional Research Service, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Center for Strategic & International Studies. She is on the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the PIR Center and the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation.

Moderated by

Joel Wit, Distinguished Fellow in Asian and Security Studies, Stimson Center

Joel S. Wit is a Distinguished Fellow in Asian and Security Studies at the Stimson Center. Wit is an internationally recognized expert on Northeast Asia security issues. As a U.S. State Department official, he helped negotiate the 1994 US-DPRK Agreed Framework and was subsequently in charge of its implementation until he left government in 2002, holding countless talks with North Korean officials, including the military and nuclear establishments. 

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