Senior Policy Analyst Sara Kutchesfahani wrote a commentary in War on the Rocks explaining the lessons North and South Korea can learn from former nuclear rivals Brazil and Argentina, who were able to build trust and later create a nuclear treaty.
International observers witnessed a historic moment on April 27 when the leaders of North and South Korea met for a landmark summit, the first time the two countries’ leaders had met in over a decade. Upon the summit’s conclusion, the leaders issued a joint statement promising to denuclearize and bring “lasting peace” to the peninsula and to end decades of hostilities.
After the ceremony comes the substance. Denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula would be unprecedented and, indeed, is an unlikely outcome for many reasons. In addition, the North Korean interpretation of denuclearization differs vastly from that of the United States and South Korea. Despite the unfavorable geopolitical conditions and large gap between interpretations, there is progress the two Koreas can make toward a less hostile and more secure status quo. In this regard, lessons can be drawn from two other former rivals on the other side of the world: Argentina and Brazil. Read more
