Thinking the unthinkable: War on the Korean Peninsula

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

9:00 am - 12:00 pm EDT

Brookings Institution

Falk Auditorium

1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC
20036

Editor’s note: In an indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York on July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Sue Mi Terry with engaging in a conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act and with failing to register as an agent of the Government of the Republic of Korea. Terry has been an occasional guest contributor of Brookings but has not been a Brookings employee or affiliate.

The possibility of a U.S. military strike against North Korea to prevent Pyongyang from acquiring the capability to hit the United States with a nuclear weapon has stimulated debates about North Korea’s intentions. Is Kim Jong-un’s primary goal deterrence against U.S. invasion? Or does he have a much more offensive agenda, such as the unification of the Korean Peninsula through the use of force? Analysis of North Korea’s intentions has profound implications for what policy responses are required to thwart the regime’s ambitions and get ahead of its tactical maneuvers designed to reach those goals. Given the range of views, policy analysis and recommendations should take into account all possibilities and scenarios. What remains incontrovertible in any analysis is the disastrous costs of a military conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

On March 13, the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings hosted leading U.S. experts to explore the possibility of an offensive-minded North Korea and its policy implications, and assess the humanitarian, economic, political, and logistical costs of a military conflict on the Korean peninsula. Following each session, panelists took questions from the audience.