SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 13, 2007 - The North Korean Nuclear Program: How Did We Get Here? What Does North Korea Want? at the Asia Society Northern California in San Francisco.

North Korea's emergence as a nuclear state poses dramatic new challenges to South Korea, the U.S., and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Here experts from the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and China share their views on what has happened in North Korea in recent years and how the U.S. and its allies can best respond.

North Korea has reportedly reaffirmed its pledge to give up nuclear weapons programs in exchange for energy supplies and security guarantees. What steps can be taken to achieve this? What, if anything, would it take for the North to denuclearize? What will be the consequences if it does not?

Sponsored by Asian Pacific Research Center, Stanford University, Business Executives for National Security, Japan Society of Northern California, USF Center for the Pacific Rim, World Affairs Council of Northern California.

Speakers include Scott Snyder, Senior Associate of Washington Programs, Asia Foundation; Dr. Gi-wook Shin, Director, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University; David Kang, Professor of Government, Dartmouth College; Dr. Siegfried Hecker, Emeritus Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Visiting Professor, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University; and Sang-Ki Chung, Consul General of South Korea to San Francisco. Bruce Pickering is the Executive Director of Asia Society Northern California.