Meltdown: THe Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis September 19, 2008

Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis

A Luncheon Discussion Forum

with

Mike Chinoy, Edgerton Fellow on Korean Security,
Pacific Council on International Policy
Author of Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis

moderated by

Barbara Slavin, Assistant Managing Editor, The Washington Times
Author of Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S. and the Twisted Path to Confrontation

Friday, September 19, 2008
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM * Registration and Reception
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM * Luncheon and Presentation

The Korea Society
950 Third Avenue, Eighth Floor, New York City
(Building entrance on SW corner of 57th Street and Third Avenue)

Starting in 2001, North Korea's nuclear weapons program went from being frozen to being fully operational, culminating in the test of a nuclear weapon in October 2006 that shocked the world. U.S. policy towards North Korea during this period was marked by intense debate in Washington, as advocates of diplomacy struggled with proponents of a more confrontational approach to dealing with Pyongyang. Today, a reversal by the Bush Administration of its earlier policy has led to an agreement that has put North Korea’s nuclear program into a state of partial disablement. However, the Six-Party Talks are stalled, and some believe the talks may yet unravel. How did all of this happen? Who were the key actors in this nuclear drama and what roles did they play resolving—or contributing to—this crisis?

In a conversation with The Washington Times assistant managing editor Barbara Slavin, longtime CNN correspondent Mike Chinoy, author of Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis (St Martin's Press, 2008), will share the perspective he has gained from more than two hundred interviews with key players in Washington, Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing—including Colin Powell, John Bolton and Kim Dae-jung—as well as fourteen trips to Pyongyang. Chinoy will discuss how U.S. refusal to engage in serious diplomacy spurred Kim Jong Il to stage his nuclear breakout, and describe the subsequent reversal of course that led the Bush administration to abandon confrontation in the hope of negotiating an end to the nuclear crisis.

For more information or to register for the program, contact Patrick Clair at (212) 759-7525, ext. 328, or patrick.ny@koreasociety.org

Official Website: http://www.koreasociety.org/contemporary_issues/contemporary_issues/meltdown_the_inside_story_of_the_north_korean_nuclear_crisis.html