Time:2010/12/27

Jointly organized by CISS and the East Asia Institute (EAI), South Korea, the Third Northeast Asia Security Dialogue (NASD) was held at the School of International Studies, Peking University from November 20-22, 2010. More than 15 leading scholars from both countries attended the dialogue, which was opened by CISS Director Professor Wang Jisi and EAI Professor Ha Young-Sun. The NASD serves to promote mutual understanding between China and South Korea on regional security issues and foster closer ties between Chinese and Korean experts and analysts. 

Divided into two sessions, the first session revolved around the situation in the Korean Peninsula after the Cheonan incident. Professor Lee Sook-Jong, President of EAI, presented her survey results on how both "elites and masses" in China and South Korea view the other, uncovering a rise in negative perceptions. Professor Oh Seung Yul from Hankuk University presented on Sino-ROK relations after the Cheonan sinking. CISS Research Fellow Wang Dong called for China to adopt a strategy of "peaceful evolution" towards the DPRK, aimed at promoting forward-looking reform. Finally, Zhang Tuosheng from the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies provided a Chinese perspective on the North Korean nuclear problem, which he argued remained best managed through a revived Six-Party Talks.

The second session was themed around the issue of new security dynamics in East Asia and global governance. CISS Deputy Director Zhu Feng offered his views about emerging security trends in the region, including the apparent "return" of American diplomatic and military power. Seoul National University Professor Chun Chaesung elaborated on what role South Korea could hope play in a region in which it was a middle power, arguing that it should look to promote a new type of international relations premised on the idea of "networked regional governance". 

Following the presentations, representatives from both sides engaged in free-ranging discussion about a range of issues, particularly how China conceives the future structuring of regional order, in both power and normative terms. The session was brought to a close by Chong Wook Chung, former South Korean Ambassador to China. 

In addition to the experts' panel, a student forum was held the following day in which students from both countries presented papers and held discussions around the topic of "The Cheonan Attack and its Impact on the Denuclearization Process of the Korean Peninsula". The students'  papers compared the impact of the Cheonan attack with previous nuclear tests conducted by the DPRK, emphasizing the need and importance for the establishment of confidence-building measures and multilateral security institutions in the region.