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PacNet #32 – The Top Five Threats to Asian Security: The Korean Peninsula Top’s the List; China Issues Loom Large

PacNet readers overwhelmingly named the future of the Korean Peninsula as one of the top five security concerns for the Asia Pacific. In a June 1999 survey, 63% of respondents listed challenges surrounding the Peninsula as a top threat, by far the largest consensus among PacNet readers. Concerns included uncertainties regarding North Korean military capabilities and intentions, the possibility of a collapse of the Kim Jong-il regime and the implications of such an implosion on regional stability, and managing a possible peaceful unification of the Peninsula.