Since 1997, Brad Babson has studied the North Korean economy and written extensively on economic perspectives on the integration of North Korea into the international community. He is former Chair of the DPRK Economic Forum at the U.S.-Korea Institute, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and served on the Advisory Council of the Korea Economic Institute of America. Presently he is a member of the Board of NCNK, Inc. and serves as Treasurer.
Mr. Babson is a consultant on Asian affairs with a concentration on North Korea and Myanmar. He worked for the World Bank for 26 years before retiring in 2000. He then consulted for the World Bank and United Nations and has been involved in projects sponsored by various institutes, foundations and universities. After moving to Maine is 2003, he has served on the Board of the World Affairs Council of Maine, Board and President of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, and taught a course on the Two Koreas and Geopolitics of Northeast Asia at Bowdoin College. His recent publications include: The North Korean Economy Under Sanctions and Covid 19 (38 North, 2020); The Road Ahead for the North Korean Economy After the Party Congress (38 North, 2021); Potential Institutional Arrangements for Funding at Cooperative Threat Reduction Plus Program for the DPRK (Asia-Pacific Leadership Network, 2022); What to Make of North Korea's Forward Looking Economic Strategy and Prospects (38 North, 2024); and A Framework for Meaningful Economic Engagement with North Korea (United States Institute for Peace, 2024).
Mr. Babson received his BA degree from Williams College in 1972, and MPA degree from the Princeton School of International and Public Affairs in 1974. He lives in Brunswick, Maine.