Overview
Many consider U.S.-China-Republic of Korea trilateral cooperation to be a key dynamic in achieving a denuclearized North Korea and a more lasting peace structure on the Korean Peninsula. Yet dialogue among these three actors is relatively unheard of, and Beijing, Seoul, and Washington continue to diverge on many critical aspects of managing the ongoing nuclear crisis with North Korea. Rather than "rowing together" on many critical areas of peninsular security, the United States, China and the ROK have often been "rowing apart." With generous support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (IFPA) launched a major project in 2011 aimed at enhancing U.S.-China-ROK dialogue on this critical issue and encouraging all three sides to "row together". Leading experts and officials from all three countries convened over the course of two workshop sessions in Beijing and Jeju Island to explore new avenues for trilateral cooperation on the Korean Peninsula. IFPA commissioned six conference papers, each representing the views of the participating countries, from select workshop participants. The conference papers are collected here, in this compendium report, providing policymakers and researchers with an invaluable collection of analysis as well as realistic recommendations for improving trilateral cooperation toward containing and reducing (if not eliminating) North Korea's nuclear programs and strengthening the prospects for stability and security on and around the Korean Peninsula.
