In 2024, North Korea’s leadership has made a number of striking changes to its foreign policy, including abandoning its goal of unification and declaring South Korea its “principal enemy.” Pyongyang has also doubled down on its relationship with Moscow, shipping artillery and missiles off to Russia for use on the battlefields of Ukraine. Speculation has also risen that Kim Jong Un may have made the strategic decision to go to… Read More

Join us for a conversation about recovering lost ground in the international effort to address North Korea’s human rights violations, featuring: Ambassador Julie Turner, U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, James Heenan, UN Human Rights Office representative in Seoul, Dr. Katrin Katz, Korea Society Van Fleet Senior Fellow, and Sean Chung, CEO of HanVoice, in conversation with policy director Jonathan Corrado. The United Nations Human Rights Council… Read More

Join us for a program that addresses the new nuclear dynamics of Northeast Asia produced in cooperation with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center. This panel discussion investigates how regional shifts in nuclear weapons capabilities and evolving doctrines affect the Korean Peninsula and beyond, with a focus on North Korea’s quickly developing nuclear and missile deterrent, the maturing nuclear capabilities of the People’s Republic of China, the US-ROK Alliance’s evolving nuclear… Read More

Join us for the New York City book launch of The Sister: North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, The Most Dangerous Woman in the World. Hear from author Dr. Sung-Yoon Lee, Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in conversation with policy director Jonathan Corrado. This newly released book chronicles the rise and importance of Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Dr. Lee describes… Read More

Join us for a discussion featuring Dr. Sungmin Cho, professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, an academic institute of the US Department of Defense, based in Hawaii. Dr. Cho will present research that analyzes Chinese texts focusing on North Korea's regime stability, the country's uncertain future, and the potential unification of the Korean Peninsula. The research encompasses a review of 62 Chinese journal articles and 29 expert commentaries… Read More

What’s really happening in North Korea right now? The regime’s pandemic border closures have left diplomats and aid workers outside the country, making it even more difficult than normal for the outside world to understand the Kim regime’s decision making and the daily lives of ordinary North Korean people. Join us for a discussion that goes behind the headlines to explore human rights and human stories in North Korea, with… Read More

Join us for a book talk with Dr. Siegfried Hecker, who discusses “his on-the-ground experience at the North's nuclear center at Yongbyon,” unpacking the ramifications of North Korea’s technical developments in the context of fateful foreign policy decisions by Washington, Seoul, and Pyongyang. Dr. Hecker describes how “successive U.S. administrations have been unable to prevent the North, with the weakest of hands, from becoming one of only three countries in… Read More

Join us for a discussion that aims to cultivate fresh ideas on America’s policy toward North Korea and coordination with ally South Korea by mobilizing a nuanced understanding of past lessons. The discussion includes consideration of developments to the approach addressed in the summit meeting between US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. The program features Professor Jeong-Ho Roh, Director of the Center for Korean Legal… Read More

Join us for a discussion about North Korea’s cyber threat, with Jean Lee, co-host of the BBC’s Lazarus Heist podcast and public policy fellow with the Wilson Center, and cybersecurity expert Michael Barnhart, who is currently with the threat intelligence firm Mandiant and was formerly Cyber Team Lead at the US Senate and signals intelligence collector in the intelligence community. The discussion is moderated by policy director Jonathan Corrado. The… Read More

Sibling defectors from Pyongyang Seohyun Lee and Hyun-Seung Lee discuss their life in North Korea, their journey to escape, and their transition to life in the United States, alongside Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) President & CEO Hannah Song, in conversation with Korea Society policy director Jonathan Corrado. Hyunseung and Seohyun Lee are prominent North Korean activists and siblings. They're the children of Ri Jong-ho, a high ranking North Korean… Read More