U.S.-ROK Dialogue on Korean Unification and Regional Security
In June 2015, NBR and KINU convened the fifth iteration of the dialogue in Washington, D.C., which considered several critical policy issues related to the unification of the Korean Peninsula, including: current U.S. and ROK policy toward the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Korean unification, China’s role in the unification of the Korean Peninsula, and the geopolitical implications of Korean unification for Northeast Asia. Previous sessions of the dialogue were convened in Seattle, Washington, in November 2012 and Washington, D.C., in March 2013, December 2013, and July 2014. Topics of discussion in these sessions included alliance-based strategies for addressing post-unification challenges, ways to strengthen policy coordination after the 2012 presidential elections in the U.S. and the ROK, and development of an alliance-based framework for operationalizing President Park Geun-hye’s trustpolitik initiative.
Conference Reports
The Fifth U.S.-ROK Dialogue on Korean Unification and Regional Security
Assessing North Korean Stability and Preparing for Unification
Trustpolitik and U.S.-ROK Relations
Korean Unification and U.S.-ROK Cooperation
About the Conference
The U.S.-ROK Dialogue on Korean Unification and Regional Security is an annual conference convened by The National Bureau of Asian Research in partnership with the Korea Institute for National Unification involving government, academic, and private-sector participants from the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK).
The dialogue seeks to foster the development of policy proposals through an annual conference on common challenges and opportunities on the Korean Peninsula and, more broadly, in Northeast Asia. The dialogue is designed to provide an effective channel of communication by which U.S. and ROK officials and policy analysts can:
- Identify opportunities and develop strategies for conflict prevention and crisis management on the Korean Peninsula.
- Exchange analyses of recent developments in order to foster a deeper mutual understanding of rapidly evolving political, security, and economic issues that could have significant consequences for South Korea and the United States.
- Propose specific steps that can be operationalized by both sides to address pressing policy issues and bolster inter-Korean and regional security.
- Enhance policy coordination between the governments of the Republic of Korea and the United States in order to prevent and, if necessary, manage and resolve the outbreak of conflict between North and South Korea.
- Develop actionable policy recommendations to encourage and support the process of peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula and to address other pressing regional issues, such as maritime security, China’s military modernization, and regional cooperation with other Asian powers on issues of mutual interest.
- Enhance the profile, roles, and responsibilities of the U.S.-ROK alliance partners in addressing challenges to security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.