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Schedule

Thursday, September 17, 2020
7:30 p.m. Moderated Discussion
8:10 p.m. Audience Q&A — Questions welcome via YouTube and Facebook Live

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After more than a year since the Hanoi Summit, U.S.–North Korea nuclear talks remain stalled, and inter-Korean relations are at another low. Meanwhile, North Korea continues to pose a security threat to the United States and its allies, and despite the summits of the past two years, Kim Jong Un's intentions remain a black box.

Drawing from her knowledge and experience as the top CIA analyst on North Korea, Dr. Jung Pak, Brookings senior fellow and author of Becoming Kim Jong Un, illuminates the U.S. intelligence community's hardest of hard targets, North Korea, and its poorly understood and greatly underestimated leader Kim Jong Un. How does Kim's personality play into U.S.–North Korea relations and denuclearization negotiations? Is there an opportunity for a diplomatic breakthrough? What insights can be drawn on the Kim regime from the increased visibility of Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong in recent months?

Join Asia Society for a conversation with Dr. Pak on North Korea's enigmatic leader Kim Jong Un. The discussion will examine how Kim Jong Un's personality, preferences, and motivations shape his country's policies, recent developments on the Korean peninsula, and the implications for the U.S. and global security.

About the Speaker

Dr. Jung H. Pak is a senior fellow and the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies at the Brookings Institution and the author of Becoming Kim Jong Un: A Former CIA Officer’s Insights into North Korea’s Enigmatic Young Dictator. Pak focuses on the national security challenges facing the United States and East Asia, including North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction capabilities, the regime’s domestic and foreign policy calculus, and internal stability. She also has expertise in U.S.–South Korea relations and northeast Asia geopolitical dynamics. Prior to Brookings, Pak held senior positions at the Central Intelligence Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence where she led the U.S. intelligence community's strategic analysis on Korea issues as the Deputy National Intelligence Officer. Prior to her work in national security, she taught history at Hunter College in New York City and studied in South Korea as a Fulbright Scholar. A graduate and former trustee of Colgate University, Pak received her PhD in U.S. history from Columbia University.

About the Moderator

JJ Green is the National Security Correspondent at WTOP radio. He reports daily on military, intelligence, espionage, foreign policy, terrorism and cyber developments. He also provides regular on-air analysis on these subjects.

He’s traveled to more than 50 countries on five continents reporting on security matters. He’s been embedded with the U.S. military in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and South Asia. He hosts the weekly podcast, Target USA, which examines the threats facing U.S. and the weekly broadcast, The Hunt, which focuses on terrorism.

He is the recipient of the 2017 Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense for his series Anatomy of a Russian Attack. He has also received a National Edward R. Murrow Award (2009) for Hidden Hunter — his reporting aboard a nuclear-powered, Los Angeles Class submarine underway in the Atlantic Ocean.

He lectures regularly at universities and speaks to professional audiences on national security issues.

Asia Society hosts today's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect Asia Society views.

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