The dramatic shift in North Korea’s posture since the start of the year has many experts questioning what Pyongyang’s true intentions are. Kim Jong-un’s last-minute decision to participate in the Winter Olympics provided a forum to boost his country’s public image, as well as paved the way for the upcoming inter-Korean summit and expected U.S. summit. Pyongyang’s assertion of a missile testing freeze and acknowledgement of the legitimacy of U.S.-South Korea military exercises purportedly demonstrate its sincerity about reaching a constructive outcome through talks, though history provides reasons for skepticism. Whether North Korea’s renewed interest in dialogue is sincere or a piece of a larger strategy is not yet clear, but observing its behavior in the recent past can provide insights into what we may expect in the near future.
KEI will host a panel with perspectives on North Korea’s economic, security, public diplomacy, and diplomatic strategies and what we can learn about North Korea’s possible intentions from observing these strategies together.
Please register here: http://keia.org/webform/rsvp-event
Speakers
William Brown, Non-Resident Fellow Korea Economic Institute of America & Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University
Chun In-bum, Lieutenant General (retired), Republic of Korea Army
Eun A Jo, Assitant Editor, The Asan Forum
Mark Tokola, Vice President, Korea Economic Institute of America
Gil Rozman (moderator), Emeritus Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Princeton University & Editor-in-Chief, The Asan Forum