A Korean Peninsula Free of Nuclear Weapons - Perspectives on Socioeconomic Development

This book focuses on three main subjects: the DPRK's inability to survive as a nuclear state; the importance of China's role in encouraging denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula; and the possibility of an alternative political organization for the DPRK including a transition to a market-economy in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons. The book approaches North Korean issues from the perspective that the regime cannot survive without nuclear weapons which, rather than being a genuine danger to other states, are bargaining chips for security and survival. The book includes views from prominent academics and practitioners, including a former British ambassador to North Korea, putting forward an ambitious set of recommendations and analyses based on hands-on experience in the region.


Chan Young Bang, PhD, is president of KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Principal Investigator of its DPRK Strategic Research Center, and a former economic adviser to Nursultan Nazarbayev, first president of Kazakhstan. He has published numerous articles and books on the prospects for a peaceful settlement of the North Korean nuclear conflict.