North Korea
Reports
Iran and North Korea: Proliferation and regional challenges for the next administration
Webinar: Tunnels, missiles, reactors — Understanding North Korea’s role in the Middle East
Webinar: Becoming Kim Jong Un — A former CIA officer’s insights into North Korea’s enigmatic young dictator
Jung H. Pak
SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies
Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies
Jonathan D. Pollack
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center
Sheena Chestnut Greitens
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies
On November 12, Jung H. Pak joined the Institute of World Politics to discuss external and internal factors that gave rise to Kim Jong Un.
What worries me about Kim Jong Un is that the threat perception of North Korea has declined quite a bit since 2017... The absence of tough talk from Kim Jong Un and the absence of big demonstrations of nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile testing lull us into a view that maybe Kim Jong Un is not dangerous after all... North Korea has between 20 to 60 nuclear weapons. Kim Jong Un has conducted four times more ballistic missile tests than his father and his grandfather combined... We have to assume that they have succeeded and are close to or have achieved that miniaturization... Kim requires a hostile outside world, and he’s going to convey that to his people through his propaganda. What we can reliably predict is that it’s just a matter of time before we have another strategic provocation.
On September 18, 2020, Jung H. Pak discussed her book “Becoming Kim Jong Un” at the Asia Society Texas Center.
It’s interesting to see how you can see Kim’s personality refracted through these [Trump-Kim "love"] letters... Surrounded by sycophants his entire life and as an observer and student of excessive displays of admiration that enveloped his father and grandfather, Kim Jong Un almost certainly understands how to weaponize praise and prey on one’s insecurities and desire for greatness.
On September 3, Jung Pak participates in an International Relations Council’s virtual security conference on North Korea and the regional security environment.