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The East Asia Initiative seeks to reduce the threat of nuclear next use and proliferation in East Asia. The goal of the Initiative is to address the proliferation threat presented by the North Korean nuclear program, prevent other countries in East Asia from starting their own nuclear-weapons programs, and build a commitment to non-proliferation in the East Asia region.

The East Asia Initiative uses a combination of detailed analyses, on the ground development projects, and aligned networks of scholars and policy-makers to address critical insecurities such as nuclear proliferation and nuclear next use. Our network brings together governments, businesses, research, academic and civil society organizations to contribute to non-proliferation efforts in the region.

Energy insecurity is a critical dimension of the North Korean nuclear challenge. To address the security threat posed by the North Korean nuclear program the US office of the Nautilus Institute maintains a unique database and set of quantitative and qualitative analytic tools to evaluate and track the DPRK's energy economy, and has maintained working relations with North Korean scientists and technical personnel from the energy sector for more than a decade.

Arirang Festival Performance, Pyongyang, DPRK

Regionally Nautilus of America is working with affiliates in South Korea and Japan to track public opinion on nuclear weapons in these countries and build a commitment to non-proliferation.

The US office of the Nautilus Institute is also working with partners in nine countries (Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam) to coordinate policy on proliferation related security issues such as spent nuclear fuel, nuclear reprocessing, export controls, and the role of non-state actors.

For more information we recommend the reports:

The Path Not Taken, the Way Still Open: Denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia

Fueling DPRK Energy Futures and Energy Security: 2005 Energy Balance, Engagement Options, and Future Paths

More information on the Nautilus Institute’s Initiative methodology is available as part of our collected material on Global Problem Solving.

The projects that contribute to this initiative are:

• The DPRK Energy Experts Working Group (EEWG): The DPRK EEWG convenes experts on the DPRK energy sector to develop a realistic assessment of the DPRK energy sector and energy aid and engagement options to support efforts to denuclearize the DPRK.

• The DPRK Building Energy Efficiency Training Project: The Building Energy Efficiency Project trained technical personnel in the DPRK on energy efficiency measures and funded a partial energy efficiency upgrade of a building in the DPRK.

• The Civil Society Monitoring and Verification (CSM&V) Network: The Civil Society Monitoring and Verification Network draws on transnational civil society networks to hold up a "mirror" to reflect back to influential South Korean and Japanese policy and decision-makers at many levels of society the totality of what they are saying and doing with regard to nuclear weapons, and how this is viewed externally; and thereby increase the accountability of decision makers in Japan and Korea to constituencies inside and outside of their countries affected by pro- and anti-nuclear weapons decisions.

• The East Asia Science and Security (EASS) Network: The EASS network is a group of scholars, policy-makers, and security experts from across the Asia-Pacific region who discuss security issues such as climate change, nuclear spent fuel, export controls, tracking nuclear proliferation, and other issues.

• The Asian Energy Security Project: a network of senior energy experts in eight countries that promote schemes for regional cooperation, the climate impacts of different strategies to address energy insecurity, and the regional impact of different nuclear reprocessing options.

• The International Criminalization of Non-State WMD-Nuclear Proliferation Project: looks at ways to prevent the spread of nuclear technology or know-how and enhance compliance with UN Resolution 1540 on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Information related to the East Asia Initiative is published on the Nautilus Peace and Security Network (NAPSNet) as well as in the Global Nuclear Futures Briefing Book and the DPRK Briefing Book.

The East Asia Initiative is supported by the Ford Foundation, the Iara Lee and George Gund III Foundation, the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the New Land Foundation, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ploughshares Fund, and the US Department of Energy.