Kazakhstan can help North Korea for denuclearization

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President Moon Jae-in attend an official welcoming ceremony in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan April 22. Reuters-Yonhap

Moon returns home after trip to three Central Asian countries

By Kim Yoo-chul

Kazakhstan can be a good example of denuclearization for North Korea as it voluntarily and willingly gave up its nuclear weapons to prosper economically, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said Tuesday.

The aide said Kazakhstan could serve as the “right model” for the North to see the economic benefits that can come from nuclear disarmament.

“The key takeaway we have to take a look at in the Kazakhstan case is the country voluntarily surrendered its nuclear weapons. In return, it received various types of assistance from the international community for economic growth and political stability,” the aide said, asking not to be named.

Kazakhstan inherited nuclear weapons after the Soviet Union suddenly collapsed in 1991 and it became an independent nation. The country handed over 1,410 nuclear warheads, 104 inter-continental ballistic missiles and biological weapons to Russia over four years from 1992.

However, Kazakhstan differs from North Korea as the latter's nuclear program traces back to the end of the Korean War when the North's leadership decided it needed a powerful deterrent to defend itself from the United States. The Soviet Union helped the country acquire the resources to do that.

The presidential aide stressed the United States should provide security assurances to North Korea, first, to get Pyongyang to follow through on its promise of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

“Nuclear disarmament in Kazakhstan is also different from the case in Libya,” he said. Libya abandoned its weapons, first, without a security guarantee from the international community. That later ended in a civil war that brought about the collapse of the Gaddafi regime and his death.

When Kazakhstan committed to disarmament, Washington provided “billions of dollars” to assist the process under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which also helped the Central Asian country with the cost of nuclear disarmament. Kazakhstan has become one of the leading economies in the region and is now home to several international business projects funded by multilateral lending institutions such as the World Bank.

“If incentives are fair and enticing enough, the Kazakhstan model of nuclear disarmament could work for North Korea,” said the aide. President Moon Jae-in also said Kazakhstan's experience and expertise in this would help the “Korea Peace Process” move forward.

President Moon returned home Tuesday evening after wrapping up his state visits that also took him to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.