The thaw in the US-North Korea relations last year, however uncertain, was certainly a welcome change from the previous year’s bellicose rhetoric, for both sides. Yet is change really around the corner? Doubts on Kim Jong Un’s sincerity persist. Many still believe he will never denuclearize and his gestures toward opening are just another ploy to buy time. Are we just seeing more of the same? Or do we have a historic opportunity to make real change on the peninsula? What are the issues at stake in 2019? “North Korea in Transition” in-vites distinguished experts in the fields of policymaking and international relations to probe those questions and put the current situation in a broader historical context. Reaching beyond politics, this speaker series also brings together scholars who have led academic and cultural engagements with North Korea to discuss how non-political exchanges can help improve North Korea’s relations with the rest of the world.
Scott A. Snyder is senior fellow for Korea studies and director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His program examines South Korea’s efforts to contribute on the international stage; its potential influence and contributions as a middle power in East Asia; and the peninsular, regional, and global implications of North Korean instability. Mr. Snyder is the author of South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Powers (January 2018) and coauthor of The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States (May 2015) with Brad Glosserman. He is also the coeditor of North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society (October 2012), and the editor of Global Korea: South Korea’s Contributions to International Security (October 2012) and The U.S.-South Korea Alliance: Meeting New Security Challenges (March 2012). Mr. Snyder served as the project director for CFR’s Independent Task Force on policy toward the Korean Peninsula. He currently writes for the blog Asia Unbound.