April 24, 2015
Colloquium Topic: Game Change on the Peninsula? Thinking About North Korea’s Nuclear Futures
Mr. Wit will discuss the findings from a recent security workshop regarding the future of North Korea’s nuclear deterrent over the next five years, looking at possible developments in its nuclear stockpile, delivery systems, and strategy/doctrine. He will also examine geopolitical, security, and nonproliferation implications as well as the possible impact on North Korean foreign/security policy.
Colloquium Speaker: Joel S. Wit
Joel S. Wit, concurrently Senior Fellow at the U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS and Adjunct Senior Fellow at Columbia University’s Weatherhead Institute for East Asia, is the founder of “38 North” (www.38north.org) and the project lead. An internationally recognized expert on Northeast Asian security issues and non-proliferation, Mr. Wit has 20 years of experience in the U.S. State Department and the Washington think-tank arena. After a short stint on detail to the Central Intelligence Agency writing the first National Intelligence Estimate on ballistic missile proliferation, Mr. Wit was a member of U.S. delegations to the Strategic Arms Limitation and Intermediate Nuclear Force Talks with the Soviet Union. In 1993, he joined the staff of Ambassador Robert L. Gallucci and was an important player in reaching the 1994 U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework. From 1995-2000, Mr. Wit was the State Department Coordinator for implementation of that agreement, playing a key role in the formation of KEDO and its operations as well as working with North Korea on other aspects of the Agreed Framework. Mr. Wit has been an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a Senior Associate at the Henry L. Stimson Center, a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has written numerous articles on North Korea and non-proliferation including, “U.S. Strategy Towards North Korea: Rebuilding Dialogue and Engagement,” published by Columbia University and the U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS. Mr. Wit is also the co-author of the book Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis.