On 14 July 2006, the third in a series of workshops intended to foster international dialogue on Korean security issues was held at Arundel House. The workshop was jointly directed by Mark Fitzpatrick and Adam Ward, and brought together a broad spectrum of government officials, academics and journalists from numerous countries, both from East Asia and from Europe and the United States. This year’s conference was particularly timely, being held less than ten days after North Korea’s provocative missile tests on 5 July and during a difficult period in diplomacy to revive the Six Party Talks.
Topics examined during the workshop included the implications of the recent missile tests for regional security; the status of the Six Party Talks and how best to proceed; the targeting of North Korean illicit activities; inter-Korean relations; and the roles of China, Japan and the European Union in the context of Korean security. One of the senior government officials who participated summed up the discussion in terms of an equation involving variables representing economic reform, the nuclear programme and the sustainability of the regime.
