Kim Sam-hoon, permanent representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, said Friday that while the disarmament of North Korea appears an achievable goal, tensions remain over key issues.

‘This is one of the thorniest issues we have facing the world these days,’ Sam-hoon said to an audience of 90 people at the Sheraton Hotel on University Avenue. ‘The North Korean nuclear issue is not merely a Korean problem, but an East Asian region problem and a worldwide problem.’

Sam-hoon focused on the history of North Korea’s controversial nuclear research and how the conflict might be resolved during the fourth annual Ambassador Pyo Wook Han Lecture on Korean Affairs, named after the ambassador who established the first South Korean embassy, in Washington, D.C. in 1949, seven years after his graduation from SU.

‘The biggest challenge we face is how to ensure the complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear program,’ Sam-hoon said. ‘Each of these words – complete, verifiable, and irreversible – has implications on how disarmament should proceed.’

The biggest obstacle in the past, Sam-hoon said, has been the issue of nuclear inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Friction began after North Korea joined the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in December 1985, eventually signing related agreements that required inspections by the IAEA.

‘Tension mounted as North Korea denied access to the suspected sites on grounds of national sovereignty,’ Sam-hoon said. Ultimately, North Korea withdrew from the NPT in 1993, resulting in 10 years of controversy, divided by attempts at finding a diplomatic solution.

Whatever the original reasons for North Korea’s reluctance to allow inspections, however, Sam-hoon said global security relies on resolving tensions.

‘North Korea’s withdrawal from the NPT and development of nuclear weapons threatens the peace and stability of the Northeast Asian region and has far reaching implications for international peace and security,’ Sam-hoon said. ‘The possibility for nuclear technology and material to fall into the wrong hands – I’m talking about the terrorists – is the problem which we are facing these days.’

Students and teachers, however, questioned the motives behind North Korea’s continued pursuit of nuclear technology.

‘The North Koreans just use deterrence theory 101,’ said Hans Peter Schmitz, a professor of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. ‘That’s essentially what they’re trying to do: bargain.’

Schmitz said that by maintaining the threat of nuclear weapons, they can more effectively make demands of the international community.

Jan Rielaender, a graduate student of economics and international relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs who attended the lecture agreed, urging that an answer to the issue of nuclear proliferation had to address North Korea’s need for bargaining power.

‘I don’t see what in their thinking would be the right answer to make them dismantle,’ Rielaender said. ‘If one could find an argument to say see, this is good for you, it could be more successful.’

Sam-hoon was noncommittal when questioned about North Korea’s reasoning on the issue.

‘There are many theories,’ Sam-hoon said. ‘The important thing is to resolve the issues. If the North Koreans are reasonable and rational, I think they should accept our offer.’

Sam-hoon offered a number of conditions necessary to encourage North Korea’s cooperation with the international community, including increased relations with the United States and South Korea.

Also, he said meaningful pressure could only come from China, and their enlarged participation was necessary in future talks.

The last piece of the puzzle, Sam-hoon said, may be financial security.

‘Finding itself in more dire financial straights than ever before, North Korea has to face it can’t survive without outside help,’ Sam-hoon said. ‘There is no doubt it will require a great deal of time, but the resultant stability in the Korean peninsula will be well worth our efforts.’

Published on March 28, 2004 at 12:00 pm