Military and security expert David Maxwell argued that pursuing North Korean denuclearization before improving inter-Korean relations is fundamentally flawed, asserting at the 2026 One Korea International Forum that unification must come first, with denuclearization and peace following thereafter. weekly.donga.com reported that the vice president of the Asia-Pacific Strategy Center delivered the remarks on October 2, emphasizing that the region must move beyond simply managing division to resolve the Korean question through unification.
Maxwell, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces colonel who served in South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines, maintained that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will never voluntarily surrender nuclear weapons. Pointing to recent statements from Kim Yo Jong—including a ruling party department director statement declaring North Korea’s nuclear-armed status absolute in response to International Atomic Energy Agency comments—Maxwell contended that four decades of failed denuclearization efforts demonstrate that unification is the sole solution for resolving the nuclear threat, establishing peninsula peace, and improving human rights.
Maxwell Rejects Peaceful Coexistence as a Human Rights Catastrophe
Responding to arguments that advocating for peaceful coexistence is more practical than pursuing immediate unification, Maxwell rejected the notion that the current two-state system can sustain peace. Citing the regime’s objective to completely dominate the peninsula, he described peaceful coexistence under such conditions as an ongoing human rights catastrophe. Permitting the violence endured by more than 20 million North Korean residents is morally untenable, he noted, particularly after Pyongyang abandoned long-standing internal promises that unification would transform citizens’ lives.
Addressing widespread domestic skepticism in Seoul regarding the economic burdens of integration, Maxwell pointed to the complementary nature of South Korea’s advanced industrial base and North Korea’s untapped natural resources. He argued that an integrated population of 80 million people connecting the peninsula directly to global markets would unlock substantial economic potential, differing sharply from the historical context of German reunification due to North Korea’s current severe infrastructure deficit.
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