Past Conferences

June 9-12, 2005, Mt. Kumgang Resort, North Korea

The conference “Whither the Six Party Talks: A Footnote to the War on Terrorism or a Prelude to the Asia Century” is the second such meeting on this topic co-sponsored by The Unification and Peace Forum, Seoul National University and the Institute for International Policy, University of Washington as an activity of the Asia Strategy Forum. These conferences differ from the many meetings and publications on this timely and controversial subject in two ways. First, they are focused on both the immediate strategic issues involved and on the long-term importance of the Six Party Talks in the context of regional and global international environment. Secondly, they involve a genuine and multidimensional partnership between Asian and Western scholars and specialists. This partnership involving intellectual and budgetary collaboration is the formula which underlies the series of conferences being held under the sponsorship of the Asia Strategic Forum that will address the issues of regionalism and the challenge of fully integrating Asia into the global political economy.

The following agenda, that sets forth the specific topics to be covered in the conference, is built around four themes that are of special consequence in addressing the Six Party Talks. Both in fact and in the eyes of Pyongyang and in fact, the United States hold the pivotal role in the talks. Washington is the global superpower and since 911, has aggressively imposed on the world its strategic priorities summarized by the ‘war on terrorism.’ Is the war on terrorism a strategy suitable for and/or accepted by the nations of Northeast Asia? One theme of this conference is to explore how this American policy has affected the Six Party Talks and how it could shape the future United States role in the region. Although the Bush administration has only reluctantly accepted multilateralism in dealing with the Middle East and Europe, it has used “multilateral consensus” as a core tactic in the Six Party Talks, while Pyongyang has pushed for a bilateral dialogue. How to sort out this seeming paradox in American policy in ways to facilitate resumption of negotiations and to work for a multilateral solution is a second theme.

Any fruitful discussion with Pyongyang will require linkage of economic assistance to the non-proliferation issues making a third theme of the conference the exploration of ways that security and economics can be constructively linked to reflect the new geo-economics and geopolitical realities of Northeast Asia. Finally, a self-conscious effort is embodied in the conference agenda to connect the solution of issues currently on the table in the Six Party Talks with the inexorable long-trends of Asian prosperity and regionalism that will shape the future of the Korean peninsula no matter what happens in the current negotiations.

Download the conference proceedings

Download the conference agenda -- MS Word Document

Download the conference participants list - MS Word Document

Read coverage of the conference in the Seattle Times, June 16, 2005

March 2004, University of Washington

The first Asia Strategic Forum workshop, focused on the Six Party Talks, took place in March 2004 at the University of Washington.

The Six Party Talks constitute a threshold event in East Asian international affairs comparable in importance to decisions made regarding Asia – and the world – in the fluid and critical years after World War II. The current talks will have far reaching consequences whether they succeed or fail, and the implications extend far beyond the specific issues on which they have been focused. Unlike the security and economic decisions made in the wake of World War II, where the United States provided bold leadership backed by both the Bretton Woods institutions and the embryonic political/economic arrangements of the cold war, today the oblique and variable approach by the United States to this issue has encouraged each participant in the Six Party Talks to see the Korean problem through a national prism and has enhanced the capacity of a poor, pariah state to set the strategic agenda. Accordingly, any current assessment of the Six Party Talks must address the diverse national and regional interests of the participating nations in terms of specific policy options (e.g. security, non-proliferation, energy, economic aid) in terms of the expanding role of Asia in an interdependent but still not convergent world.

There were three goals of this first Asia Strategic Forum workshop on the Six Party Talks. First, to broaden discussion of the Talks from the obsessive concern with development of weapons of mass destruction and their potential use, to a broad long-term approach that addresses and integrates global and regional political/economic concerns with issues on the Korean peninsula such as: economic development, a new security system, energy. Second, drawing from 20th century models, such as the post-Vietnam Rockefeller Commission on Critical Choices for Americans, the meeting will serve as a launching pad to propose a strategic policy development framework in which basic issues and clear policy options are clarified through the efforts of a truly multinational group of leading scholars and experts from countries in the Six Party Talks.

In addition to the short-term substantive problems on the official agenda, the following questions were addressed by all presenters:

  1. How do the Six Party Talks relate to the global issues of the war on terrorism, nuclear proliferation and economic development? In what ways are the successful solutions of the Talks linked to these global issues?
  2. From the perspective of your country, how are the Six Power Talks related to the issues of regional peace and prosperity and to the various regional arrangements (e.g. ARF, ASEAN, APEC) that are now in place?
  3. In what way and to what extent do: (a) domestic politics; (b) strategic policy considerations and priorities affect your country’s approach to the talks?
  4. In what ways and to what extent is the basic role of the United States in Asia and the world a consideration in your approach to the talks? Similarly, for China and Japan.

Download the conference agenda -- MS Word Document

Download the conference participants list - MS Word Document