Students discuss nuclear containment

by Erin Oliver
Volante (University of South Dakota)
April 6, 2005

Nine USD students gathered in the Continuing Education building March 30 to participate in a video conference regarding the nuclear containment of North Korea.

Members of USD’s branch of Americans for Informed Democracy, along with members of the Political Science League and others, spoke with students from Australia, South Korea and the United States during the discussion.

The video conference, moderated by an AID official from World Bank in Washington D.C., lasted about two hours. Each participating institution was allotted time for presentations, questions and rebuttal.

Issues discussed included solutions and approaches to the problem, six-party talks, the role of individual nations, brinkmanship, incentives and humanitarian issues.

Student Sean Flynn represented USD in discussions on the proper approach and reaction to North Korea’s nuclear program.

Flynn said the key to properly dealing with North Korea is diplomacy. Six-party talks involving super powers, as well as nations surrounding North Korea are vital. In these talks, Flynn said, each party must come to the table believing he has something to gain.

USD’s AID co-chairs John Walz and Lynn von Koch said they were satisfied with the turn out, given the minimal publicity.

“I don’t know that we reached a conclusion tonight, but it was valuable to engage in discussion and to see where students from abroad, particularly, were coming from,” Walz said.

Thursday’s videoconference was a part of the “Red, White, and Blue Coming Together” series, which aims to “revive America’s sense of common purpose and shared destiny and can ensure principled U.S. leadership in the world,” according to a March 29 press release.