Research on Global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime and the facilitating factors for Denuclearization in the three Former Soviet Union
Authors:   Asia-Europe Perspective Association, Park Byungin , Lee Suhoon 
Published: June 2018

This paper mainly concerns with finding some implications and the facilitating factors for the strategy of Nuclear Non-Proliferation of North Korea based on the case studies of Soviet Union, such as Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus(the three former Soviet Union countries).
Before its collapse, USSR had positioned massive amount of nuclear facilities all around the country. The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in maldistribution of thirty thousand strategic and tactical nuclear weapons not only in Russia but also in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus. For this reason, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus became third, fourth, and fifth largest nuclear-weapon states. But after many ups and downs, the three former Soviet Union countries have been finally denuclearized as they agreed to relocate their nuclear weapons to Russia.
The first reason of denuclearization in the three former Soviet Union countries is that collective security by other powerful nations has been implemented. Their main point is to solve security threat by other powerful nations during the period of transition. They could become solely denuclearized while securing collective security by NPT nuclear states such as America and Russia.
Second, large scale economic compensation and support has been persued as a result of nuclear renunciation. Since the three former Soviet Union countries were newly-independent nations and it was important to secure finances, cooperation with America and international society was desperate. Economic and technological support from international society was needed, due to worsened social unrest by the failure of the first economic reform.
Third, problem of securing finance and limit of high specialty and technology needed in order to actually manage nuclear weapon played the central role in denuclearization of the three former Soviet Union countries. Furthermore, since the placement and management of nuclear weapon during the Cold War was led by the Soviet Union, it was impossible to maintain or operate the nuclear weapon without the support of Russia even when they possess nuclear weapon after independence.
Fourth, giving up nuclear weapon was the strategic determination by the most powerful leader. Ukraine government faced lot of hardships in the process of giving up nuclear weapon. Especially, due to the fear of political and military pressure by Russia when they give up nuclear weapon, Ukraine’s council and the military strongly resisted the government’s decision of nuclear renunciation. But under the leadership’s sharp recognition realizing that the profit of nuclear renunciation far outweighs the profits of possessing nuclear, they have decided to become denuclearized.
Actually, the international society’s solution in nuclear renunciation is not unilinear but complex in diverse situations. Various solutions can be suggested according to country’s regional conditions and dynamics with other powerful nations.
Now, the international society is facing serious challenge in the effort of restraining nuclear proliferation. The most threatening matter is an attempt to acquire North Korea’s nuclear test and nuclear-weapon status. If the North Korea’s attempt cannot be controlled, it can be a severe blow to the international society’s effort of nuclear nonproliferation. So we are trying to provide implication of solving North Korea’s nuclear problem by looking at the three former Soviet Union country’s denuclearization process.
Followings are the implications that we can obtain from the three former Soviet Union country’s denuclearization. First one is the problem with leading the following country to willingly denuclearize. In that regard, not economic compensation and threatening security but coming up with the whole new way of thinking is required to make North Korea give up their nuclear weapon which they have carried for years. Second, we have to seek North Korea’s regime change.