North Korea's Trajectory: A Dangerous Path to Self-destruction?

Friday, October 6, 2017
12:00 PM - 1:15 PM
(Pacific)

Philippines Conference Room
Encina Hall, 3rd Floor
616 Serra Street
Stanford, CA 94305
Directions

Speaker: 
  • Kim Sook

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un now boasts that his country is in the final stages of completing a nuclear weapons development program, one capable of loading nuclear warheads on an ICBM that can reach the mainland United States.

Six years after his succession to power, Kim has continued to defy international pressure, conducting four nuclear tests and firing eighty-five ballistic missiles. Recently, the world has witnessed an extraordinary, high-intensity war of words between President Trump and the North Korean leader. Military tension mounts higher than ever as we enter a new phase, arguably the most serious one in decades, in dealing with a dangerous and bellicose North Korea.

There are many questions: Will North Korea conduct an atmospheric nuclear test? When will their weapons program really be capable of hitting the continental United States? How will the U.S. government respond to that capability? Will the likely result be war on the Korean Peninsula? What about the China factor?

Ambassador Kim will discuss some of these questions through his personal experiences at the Six-Party Talks, the UN Security Council and through his contacts with North Korean officials.