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Geographically, Northeast Asia consists of northern
China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia, and the far eastern regions of
Russia. Although policy experts and scholars have proposed the establishment of
a NWFZ in Northeast Asia, the political feasibility of doing so is very remote
due to the volatile security environment in the region. North Korea's
suspected nuclear weapons development and related withdrawal from the NPT are
seen as significant threats to regional stability. Cross-strait tensions
between China and Taiwan are also
include a potential source of conflict that might draw-in the United States and
Japan. The region includes two NPT NWS (China and Russia) and close U.S.
allies, Japan and South Korea, protected by the so-called U.S. nuclear umbrella.
Thus, the establishment of a NWFZ in this region is improbable.
Prior to the
1993 nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula,
movement toward limited denuclearization of the region appeared
positive. On January 20, 1992, both North Korea (the DPRK) and South
Korea signed a
Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula.
The purpose of the declaration was to "eliminate the danger of nuclear war" and
to "create an environment and conditions favorable for peace and peaceful
unification of our country." By signing the declaration, both Koreas
promised not to test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy, or
use nuclear weapons. In addition, nuclear energy is strictly limited for
peaceful purposes on the Korean Peninsula, and
neither country shall possess nuclear
reprocessing or uranium enrichment facilities. The Joint Declaration
was to enter into force after the appropriate procedures were completed.
However, the achievement of this declaration has been all but nullified
by revelations of the North Korean nuclear program, beginning in March 1993.
A new crisis, which made a denuclearized Korean Peninsula even less
likely, began in October 2002, when North Korea
appeared to acknowledge it had secretly developed a program to
produce enriched uranium. This was followed by the North Korean
announcement of its withdrawal from the NPT on
January 10, 2003, and it is generally accepted that its withdrawal became
effective on April 10, 2003. Efforts to resolve the latest crisis peacefully and
diplomatically have been made through the six-party talks involving the Republic
of Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. However, the success
of these talks has been limited.
Despite the numerous challenges to establishing a Northeast Asian
NWFZ, policy experts and scholars have proposed several
different ideas for promoting a NWFZ in this region, although no official steps
have been taken towards this goal. Proponent of establishing a
NWFZ in Northeast Asia argue the proposal could be realized slowly,
beginning with solidifying the status of current non-nuclear weapon
states in the region. Since Mongolia has already declared its
nuclear-weapon-free status, Japan and South Korea could take similar
action to extend the reach of the limited nuclear-weapon-free zone.
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