2017 Nobel Peace Laureate Announces Plan for Korean Denuclearisation
ICAN’s five steps to denuclearise the Korean peninsula
Speakers
- Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of ICAN
- Akira Kawasaki, member of ICAN's International Steering Group
Location Pan Pacific Hotel, Singapore (level 2, Ocean 4 Meeting Room)
Time June 11, 12:00 PM Local
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, will present a plan for the comprehensive, verifiable and permanent denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at a press conference in Singapore on Monday, June 11. The Korean Peninsula Denuclearization Roadmap or “5R plan," was developed with input from leading nuclear disarmament experts from around the world. It lays out clear steps for the negotiating parties, Northeast Asia region, and the entire world to take in order to completely and irreversibly end the threat of nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.
ICAN’s five steps to denuclearise the Korean peninsula
Peace is a complex process. If Trump and Kim really want tomorrow’s summit to do more than just capture the world’s attention, they must embark on a long-term plan to real and lasting peace. Denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula is possible, and can be achieved through following five steps:
- Recognize the risk of nuclear use and the unacceptable humanitarian consequences of such use
- Reject nuclear weapons by joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)
- Remove North Korea’s nuclear weapons through a verifiable and irreversible plan
- Ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
- Rejoin the NPT and world community
Below, we give a brief description of what each step will entail. Or download the full roadmap including expert commentary.
Each step in a nutshell
#1 Recognize that nuclear weapons pose an unacceptable risk to humanity
The start to solving any problem is admitting that there is one. North Korea and the US must both recognize the risks and unacceptable humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons.
#2 Reject nuclear weapons, join the Nuclear Ban Treaty
Rather than risk the kind of disputes over verification and compliance that led to the collapse of previous talks, the United States and North Korea should agree to use a multilateral process through the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The treaty, adopted by the UN in 2017, forbids the development, testing, possession, use, and threatening to use nuclear weapons. North and South Korea should immediately join the TPNW, rejecting any role for nuclear weapons in their security policies.
By joining the treaty, North Korea would commit to immediately cease any development, production, and manufacture of nuclear weapons, and irreversibly eliminating its nuclear weapons program. North Korea would be obliged to conclude and implement the highest level of IAEA non-proliferation safeguards.
South Korea would be obliged to reject the potential use of nuclear weapons on its behalf by the United States,i.e. to opt out of the US “nuclear umbrella”. The ROK would not have to end its military alliance with the United States; the TPNW does not prohibit military cooperation with nuclear-armed states and/or non-party states. The ROK could continue to rely on US extended deterrence, but not extended nucleardeterrence.
Together, these undertakings would denuclearise the Korean peninsula.
#3 Remove North Korea’s nuclear weapons in a verifiable and irreversible way
Under the TPNW, North Korea would work with a competent international authority to develop and implement a time-bound, verifiable, and irreversible plan for the total elimination of its nuclear-weapon programme. The international community would play a key role in this process by verifying the elimination of North Korea’s nuclear-weapon programme. While this is a big step, that obviously depends on North Korea’s full cooperation and willingness to disarm, verified destruction of the North Korea’s nuclear weapons could be accomplished in as little as a few years.
#4 Ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
The United States and DPRK should both commit never to test nuclear weapons by ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Ceasing all nuclear-weapon test explosions would provide an effective measure of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. As a legally-binding instrument founded on a robust verification system, the CTBT would also help overcome the trust deficit that is a real impediment to progress on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
#5 Rejoin the NPT and world community
Following the elimination of its nuclear weapons, North Korea should rejoin the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The United States should pursue multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations as stipulated by NPT Article VI.