Navigating the Complexities of North Korea’s Nuclear Issue and Human Rights

For well over three decades, North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons has sparked cycles of conflict, negotiations, and stalemate. Although the Moon government’s engagement policy in the late 2010s, in tandem with the Trump administration’s pivot from confrontation to dialogue, had brought Kim Jong Un to the denuclearization table, the collapse of the talks has led North Korea to resume testing ICBMs and tactical nuclear-capable delivery vehicles, threatening the ROK-US alliance. The succeeding Yoon government’s aggressively hostile stance toward North Korea and its deferential accommodation of U.S. security policy have further exacerbated inter-Korean tensions, prompting Pyongyang to seek closer alignment with Russia. Moreover, as North Korea comes closer to acquiring operable nuclear-armed ICBMs, growing concerns about the U.S. commitment to extended deterrence are nudging South Korea to consider deterrence strategies that go beyond conventional means to explicitly rely on nuclear weapons, including the possibility of acquiring indigenous nuclear capabilities. Compounding this tense security situation is North Korea’s poor human rights record, which has long been a thorny issue for both the US and South Korea. This panel explores such complexities surrounding North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and human rights concerns, seeking alternative solutions beyond current confrontational approaches. The research questions answered by the panel are as follows. What explains the intractable impasse in the security situation of the Korean Peninsula? Is there a pathway out of the prolonged nuclear crisis and stalemate? What policy alternatives can defuse escalating military tensions and promote a peaceful resolution in the region? What strategic options does South Korea have to counter North Korea’s nuclear threat? What are the major differences between the Moon and the Yoon administrations in exercising South Korea’s middle power diplomacy to address the challenge? What explains growing nuclear populism in South Korea and what are its implications? How can North Korea’s human rights issue be effectively addressed? In answering these questions, the panel seeks to untangle the complexities of the security complex in the Korean Peninsula, examine and assess extant policy measures to stabilize it, and explore viable policy alternatives.