Building a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula: the implications for the US-ROK alliance/ Sue Mi Terry

This article examines what building a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula would mean, what it ight look like and what the implications might be for the U.S-ROK alliance. Such changes will undoubtedly pose risks as well as opportunities for the region. One key challenge has been one of sequencing. For Washington, a peace regime presupposes the North's denuclearization. But for North Korea, the key to denuclearization is for the U.S. to first end its "hostile policy" and work towards building a peace regime before it could eliminate its nuclear weapons. Denuclearization and a peace regime are two sides of the same coin and negotiations on these two issues must proceed simultaneously. There is no prospect of an immediate breakthrough in talks with Kim Jong Un but it is important to think through how the process would work in order to shape the U.S. and South Korean approaches to North Korea in the Bien administration.

KOREA, USA, ASIAN, POLICY