CENTER FOR ETHICS AND THE RULE OF LAW
Violations
Location: Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania
The challenges posed by a nuclear North Korea to the global community have constituted ongoing headline news for the last two decades. However, ever since the country withdrew from the multilateral Six-Party Talks in 2009, the development
of North Korea’s nuclearization efforts have greatly intensified, and opportunities for a peaceful resolution seem daunting. Kim Jong Un’s irrational penchant for chaos and destruction cannot be tamed without escalated involvement from his
allies in China and Russia. North Korea’s historic commitment to the Kim family’s ideology of juche, or “self-reliance,” emboldens the country’s diplomatic, financial, and military autarky from the outside world, and complicates the
prospect of compromise by excluding the traditional mechanisms of negotiation and bargaining from consideration. Finally, the chance of military engagement poses perils untold for South Korea, as nearly half of the country’s population lives
within 50 miles of the DMZ.
This symposium, which is open to the public, is designed to facilitate an enhanced awareness of the possible advantages and challenges in entering negotiations with North Korea. To weigh whether negotiation can or should be available,
experts representing a wide range of experiences and interests will engage in two sequential, moderated panels, followed by a keynote address.