North Korea's Nuclear Program the Biggest Geopolitical Risk of the Year
Kevin Rudd on CNBC
On Monday, March 6, 2017, Asia Society Policy Institute President Kevin Rudd spoke with CNBC about North Korea’s recent launch of four intermediate-range missiles which landed near Japan’s northwest coast.
North Korea’s increasing nuclear capability “is the number one geopolitical, geostrategic risk for the year,” Rudd said. The progress that North Korea has made in advancing its nuclear program should be a call to action, Rudd argued, both in terms of cyber means to stop the testing program, and diplomacy to strike a strategic deal.
Rudd additionally stressed the importance of collaboration between the U.S. and China on the North Korea nuclear issue. He recommended that the primary focus of “the first meeting between Xi Jinping and President Trump must be on this question. And I think the [U.S.] administration is seized of that now.” (5 min., 37 sec.)