What is it like to be posted in Pyongyang? What are the limitations and opportunities of reporting from a closed state? What are myths or where are hidden truths? The second installment of this summer’s Knowing North Korea series features Ivan Zakharchenko, United Nations Bureau Chief for RIA-Novosti. Zakharchenko was posted to Pyongyang for a half-decade and enjoyed unique exposure given Russia’s special relationship with North Korea. He writes broadly… Read More

What is the current state of malnutrition in North Korea and need for food? How should the international community respond? What measures are in place to make certain that food goes to those in need? Should nutritional assistance come with progress in negotiations or other openings? This fourth and final installment of this summer’s Knowing North Korea series features the head of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in… Read More

The Korea Society continues its Knowing North Korea series covering economy and investment; nuclear and other security issues; refugees; NGOs and humanitarian affairs; energy, agriculture, and infrastructure development; and the roles of the international community. This 2012 installment begins with lessons in humanitarian affairs and suggestions for more constructive international involvement by Stanford University Pantech Fellow Katharina Zellweger, who has visited North Korea more than fifty times Knowing North Korea:… Read More

Author and journalist Blaine Harden speaks about his remarkable and harrowing account of refugee Shin Dong-hyuk’s birth into and eventual escape from the North Korean gulag. A monumental and moving book, Harden reveals the hardships of prison life and provides a lasting testimony to the endurance of the human spirit. This literary event features a special display of refugee artwork. Book Cafe: Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey… Read More

Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, and Alexandra Toma, founder and co-chair of the Fissile Materials Working Group, examine the issues surrounding the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit to take place in Seoul in March. What does the summit mean for international efforts to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists? What are the current and new efforts aimed at North Korean denuclearization? How does the summit… Read More