Page 33 - NKHR Hawaii Conference 2023

the possibility of changing what they are, they know the regime might collapse overnight.
So I think that is the last thing the Kim regime and the small number of the elite group
would allow. T erefore, on the one hand is a nuclear missile threat, and on the other hand
is a human rights violation, and they are very much linked together. And particularly, in
terms of f nancing and labor, we have to cut of that linkage.

For that, f rst and foremost, our ef orts have to be very targeted. Hopefully, we in South
Korea can develop a detailed Korean approach and stop those individuals who commit
some kind of crime against humanity.

On the other hand, secondarily, the US can do something. T at means assuming North
Korea’s f nal goal is negotiating and normalizing its relations with the US. I think the US
must be careful not to give North Korea what it wants and to understand what it could
and couldn’t do.

North Korea has already developed a nuclear weapon. If the US only highlights the non-
proliferation issue, I think that doesn’t go anywhere. I think the US government should be
very clear about denuclearization being our f nal goal. In that sense, I’m pretty concerned
about the next US presidential election outcome because it might just withdraw that
aspect, similar to what happened in 2018.

So these are very complex matters, but still to understand what happened, and why they
tried to build up the nuclear weapons has to be understood in terms of both human
security perspectives and the broader comprehensive security perspectives.

DR. STEPHEN NOERPER

T ank you. And I know you’ve also raised this issue that’s so striking. A Chernobyl-style
situation on the Korean Peninsula would be a gross human rights abuse.

Given what you have just said about the complexity, Ambassador Turner, we have an
incredibly complex global reality right now. It’s been mentioned earlier in this session.
Just today in the Financial Times, there was a question asked in a major op-ed that said,

“How can a superpower manage all of these issues, right? With Ukraine, with Gaza, a
plethora of issues and concerns about Taiwan. And of course North Korea.”

How do we keep North Korean human rights up on the agenda? How do you as a policy

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