North Korea Inside Out: The Case for Economic Engagement

Amid signs of a thaw in U.S.-North Korea relations, Asia Society and the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) are releasing a major task force report—North Korea Inside Out: The Case for Economic Engagement. To receive a copy of the report when it's ready, contact the Asia Society communications department at 212-327-9271 or via email at pr@asiasoc.org.

"The tentative thaw in U.S.-DPRK and North-South Korea relations continues this week, after the State Department granted a visa to top North Korean official Li Gun to attend Track Two Dialogues in San Diego and New York during the last week of October, and amid rumors of potential U.S.-North Korean bilaterals to be hosted in a third country, possibly China," says John Delury, Associate Director of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and the report's director.

"Voices in favor of engagement within the Obama administration also continue to gain momentum, with exploratory U.S. efforts to talk and deal with the governments of Burma/Myanmar, and now Sudan, underway. As it moves cautiously toward reopening talks with North Korea, Washington is carefully coordinating with China, South Korea, and the new government in Tokyo, with official visits to the Northeast Asian capitals from multiple departments of the U.S. government. North Korea policy appears to be shifting slowly toward a different track." John is based in New York.