The North Korean nuclear crisis is going from bad to worse and South Korea has disagreements over how to deal with it. Options for addressing the crisis range from sanctions to regime change, and from preemptive attacks to nuclear deterrence and defense, including Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD). Discussion of the dialogue and negotiation option has been lacking. This talk will provide a comprehensive look into the South Korean domestic debates on the North Korean nuclear quagmire, focusing on the preemptive attack, nuclear deterrence, THAAD and engagement options. 

Chung-in Moon is Distinguished University Professor and former dean of Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University in Korea, and currently Krause Distinguished Fellow at the UCSD School of Global Policy and Strategy. Professor Moon is editor-in-chief of Global Asia, a quarterly journal in English; has authored, co-authored and edited 56 books, and published over 300 articles in academic journals such as World Politics, International Studies Quarterly, and World Development, and in edited volumes. He was a Public Policy Scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center, a Lixian Scholar of Beijing University, and a Pacific Leadership Fellow at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, UCSD. He was executive director of the Kim Dae-jung Presidential Library and Museum, and served as chairman of Presidential Committee on Northeast Asian Cooperative Initiative of the Roh Moo-hyun government, a cabinet-level post; and Ambassador for International Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Korea. He was vice president of International Studies Association of North America and president of Korea Peace Research Association. He is currently co-convener of Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament.