Cohen Institute, SPIA to host conference about North Korea 

The Cohen Institute for Leadership and Public Service and the School of Policy and International Affairs will host the second biennial conference, “Can We Live with a Nuclear North Korea?” at the University of Maine on Oct. 17 and 18. 

The conference in the McIntire Room of Buchanan Alumni House will explore the implications of North Korea’s acquisition of nuclear weapons and the challenges and opportunities arising from the altered security environment.

All members of the UMaine community and the interested public are welcome to attend. 

Thursday, the conference will begin with an introduction by Emily Haddad, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UMaine. A keynote presentation titled “Problems and Prospects of a Nuclear Deal with North Korea” by Ambassador Chris Hill, now a professor at the University of Denver, will follow 5–6:30 p.m. with moderator Kristin Vekasi, assistant professor of political science at UMaine. Hill headed the U.S. delegation for the six-party talks during the George W. Bush administration. The goal was to halt North Korea’s nuclear program. 

The event continues Friday with three panels featuring invited speakers. Sessions are “Great power politics and the Korean peninsula,” presented by Ambassador Kathleen Stephens of the Korean Economic Institute, and moderated by Hill, 8:30–9:30 a.m.; “North Korea’s nuclear program and neighborhood politics,” presented by Sheila Smith of the Council of Foreign Relations, and moderated by Jiyoung Ko of Bates College, 9:45–10:45 a.m.; and “North Korea’s nuclear program and implications for the international non-proliferation regime,” presented by Jung Pak of the Brookings Institute, and moderated by Asif Nawaz, assistant professor of history and international affairs at UMaine, 11 a.m. to noon. 

Registration is not required. For more information, contact Kristin Vekasi at kristin.vekasi@maine.edu. More information also is online