Recalibrating US Extended Deterrence on the Korean Peninsula

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With rising great power competition and continued advancements of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, the US and South Korea need to reassess their current extended deterrence arrangement to adapt to a range of new geopolitical realities.

In Northeast Asia, great power competition is intensifying, North Korea’s nuclear program continues to advance, and a nuclear arms race is gaining momentum. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also threatened the integrity of the nuclear nonproliferation regime and posed complex new challenges to the norms of conflict. These broad trends create high uncertainty in a region of great importance – a reality that is fueling anxieties among US allies in the region, such as South Korea.

Join the Stimson Center for a discussion about the US-South Korea extended deterrence relationship and potential steps to enhance deterrence and assurance in this worsening geopolitical environment.

Featured Speakers

Jon Wolfsthal, Senior Advisor, Global Zero

Jon Wolfsthal is a senior advisor to Global Zero and a member of the Science and Security Board at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He is a former Special Assistant to President of the United States Barack Obama for National Security Affairs and a former senior director at the National Security Council for arms control and nonproliferation. Prior, he was Deputy Director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterey, California.

Jenny Town, Senior Fellow, Stimson Center and Director, 38 North

Jenny Town is a Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center and the Director of Stimson’s 38 North Program. Her expertise is in North Korea, US-DPRK relations, US-ROK alliance and Northeast Asia regional security. She was named one of Worth Magazine’s “Groundbreakers 2020: 50 Women Changing the World” and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business in 2019 for her role in co-founding and managing the 38 North website, which provides policy and technical analysis on North Korea.

Moderator

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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