News On Sunday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that Beijing would suspend all imports of coal from North Korea for the remainder of 2017, cutting off a major source of export earnings for Pyongyang. The announcement comes nearly three months after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2321, which capped North Korean coal exports at 7.5 million metric tons or about $400 million annually. ... | Read More
NCNK member and CSIS Senior Adviser and Korea Chair Dr. Victor Cha testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, February 7 to discuss the threat posed by North Korea and offer recommendations for policy priorities for the United States. ... | Read More
In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relation Committee today, Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow and NCNK Steering Committee Co-Chair Scott Snyder outlined the state of U.S. efforts to address North Korea's nuclear program, and provided policy recommendations for Congress and the new Administration. ... | Read More
South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh reveals that President Obama provided humanitarian aid earmarked for flood relief through the United Nations to North Korea just before leaving office. The article notes that the provision of aid could provide needed momentum to reset US-DPRK relations by the new Trump administration.
The US government has reportedly sent humanitarian aid earmarked for flood relief to North Korea’s North Hamgyong Province via the UN. ... | Read More
In an article for Arms Control Today, Social Science Research Council's Leon Sigal, parses through clues to the next administration's North Korea policy and suggests that Trump should follow through on his impulse to engage in talks with North Korea, rather than the recommendations Trump will likely receive to continue a policy of "strategic patience." ... | Read More
In a New York Times op-ed, Stanford University's Siegfried Hecker argues that the incoming Trump administration should move quickly to engage in bilateral negotiations with North Korea. Hecker, also director emeritus at Los Alamos National Laboratory, says that reestablishing communication with North Korea could help prevent a nuclear crisis, and could also garner support from China and other countries in the region. ... | Read More
In Kim Jong Un's annual New Year's address, he re-emphasized themes from the May 2016 Workers' Party Congress, discussed military and economic policy, and referenced the widespread protests that have taken place in South Korea. ... | Read More
The following is an excerpt from the Fall 2016 Newsletter of the Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs, which discusses their most recent trip to Pyongyang on the issue of bringing home the remains of American POW/MIAs from the Korean War. ... | Read More
On November 29, 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives passed joint resolution H.Con.Res.40, encouraging North Korea to allow Korean Americans to meet with their families in North Korea. The timely resolution comes as the 114th Congress enters the last few weeks of its 2nd and final session and, more importantly, as many of the 100,000 divided Korean American families pass away. ... | Read More
