On October 8, 2002, IFPA, in association with the
Center for International Studies of the Graduate School of International Studies
(GSIS) at Yonsei University, convened in Seoul, the Republic of Korea (ROK),
a bilateral U.S.-South Korean workshop entitled Missile Defense and Counter-proliferation
Planning on the Korean Peninsula: Exploring U.S. and ROK Responses and Options.
This workshop brought together key members of the American and South Korean
governments, as well as academic experts and analysts from the think-tank
communities of both countries, to explore the air and missile threat environment
in Northeast Asia and to discuss and identify appropriate options for responding.
Workshop sessions included a detailed examination of missile defense technologies,
alternative architectures for missile defense deployments, and opportunities
for U.S.-allied collaboration in the missile defense arena. Building upon
the discussions held at an earlier IFPA-GSIS workshop on missile defense issues
convened in Seoul on June 14, 1999, this meeting provided a timely forum for
updating ROK attendees on recent missile defense initiatives under the Bush
administration, and for re-examining the relevance of missile defenses to
security on the Korean Peninsula in light of current developments (including
North Korea’s pursuit of a clandestine nuclear weapons program).
Organized in support of efforts by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)—and, more specifically, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) within DoD—to open a fuller dialogue with key U.S. allies on the value of missile defenses as part of a broader strategy for countering existing and emerging threats posed by ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD), this workshop enjoyed particularly high-level participation from Headquarters, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) and from the ROK Ministry of National Defense (MND), including special presentations by General Leon LaPorte, USA, Commander, USFK, United Nations Command (UNC), and Combined Forces Command (CFC), and by Lieutenant General Cha Young Koo, Deputy Minister of Policy Planning, ROK MND. Welcoming comments were made as well by Ambassador Thomas Hubbard, representing the U.S. Embassy, Seoul. What follows is a thematic summary of the workshop discussions, and a review of major recommendations for follow-on action that might usefully be considered by U.S. and ROK officials.
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