Two prominent North Korea experts in the U.S. will discuss its growing nuclear threats and the international community’s response at a forum hosted by the Asia Society this week.
Bill Richardson, former governor of New Mexico, and Donald Gregg, chairman of the Pacific Century Institute and former ambassador to South Korea, will participate in the discussion to be moderated by ABC News International Editor Jon Williams.
Titled “Avoiding Apocalypse: Searching for Peace with North Korea,” the forum will be livestreamed through the institution’s website (asiasociety.org) at 7 a.m. Friday, Korea time, or 6 p.m. Thursday, U.S. Eastern Time, for more than an hour, organizers said.
“While North Korea continues to present challenges for international society, we hope to provide insight and promote collaboration, which will in turn help create a shared future,” said an official from the Asia Society’s Korea office.
The communist state has made headlines with its third nuclear test in February and a slew of menacing war threats against the U.S. and its allies from March through April. This aberrant behavior has made the world audience puzzled over the intentions behind Pyongyang’s nuclear adventurism.
With the two U.S. experts having engaged in North Korea-related issues long term, the forum will discuss recent developments and ways to handle the increasingly provocative state.
Richardson, who also formerly served as U.S. ambassador to the U.N., is known for his engagement with North Korea’s humanitarian issues. Accompanying Google chairman Eric Schmidt, he last visited the North in January on a private humanitarian mission.
He also visited Pyongyang back in 2010, shortly after North Korea had triggered regional tension by shelling Yeonpyeongdo Island, killing four and injuring 19.
His counterpart, Donald Gregg, after years of serving on the U.S. National Security Council, served as ambassador to Korea from 1989-93. He also chaired the Korea Society from 1993 to 2009.
The Asia Society, founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller, is a nonprofit educational institution dedicated to the study of Asian countries. Its key goal is to promote mutual understanding and to strengthen the partnership between Asia and the United States.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
