East Asia’s Nuclear Future

Abstract

As shown in recent crises situations, international regimes preventing nuclear proliferation are facing continuous challenges and tests. Many international observers are anxious to know whether the present regimes can withstand the series of serious shocks and setbacks they have faced in recent years. Presently, there are two focal points in the international efforts against nuclear proliferation: the nuclear programs in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The DPRK’s program is the more explosive of the two, given its disruptive impacts on the peace and stability in East Asia, as well as on the global nuclear arms control and disarmament regimes. Can the current crisis, imbedded in the deeprooted hostilities between the DPRK and the United States, move beyond its current dangerous stalemate peacefully? What should the international community do to help prevent further deterioration of the present dangerous situation?