Participants in an initiative to establish a limited nuclear weapons-free zone in Northeast Asia, begun in 1992 by Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for International Strategy, Technology and Policy, will meet in Moscow in September.
John E. Endicott, director of the center and a participant in the initiative, told attendees at a Jan. 14 meeting of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, that he is hopeful that the governments of China, Japan, Korea, Russia and the U.S. will decide to elevate the proposal to “track-one” official status at the meeting.
The initiative is currently on “track-two” which indicates government support, said Dr. Endicott, and an upgrade in status could give the proposal added momentum.
“These things are slow, even when they do have official status,” he said, but the agreement could eventually lead to a cooperative security community and economic ties among the countries in the region.
He also hopes that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which withdrew from the negotiations in 1992, will rejoin the group in Moscow now that tensions with South Korea and the U.S. have eased, he said.
Since the group last met in Bordeaux, France, in March, 1996, the participants have been individually researching and preparing papers on how the limited nuclear free zone restricting tactical, or offensive, nuclear weapons, could best be achieved, Dr. Endicott said.
These papers will be presented at the meeting in Moscow, he added.
For more information call Dr. Endicott at (404) 894-9451; fax (404) 894-1903.