“Three Windows Looking for North Korea: Nuclear, Human Rights, and Inter-Korean Relations” with presenter Byungdae Kim, visiting scholar and Director General, Korean Ministry of Unification.
There are a variety of perspectives about North Korea, such as geographical viewpoint, which includes North Korea itself, the whole Korean peninsula, North East Asia and more. And functional viewpoint, which includes politics, security, economy, social-culture, and humanitarian issues, etc. This lecture will focus on North Korea’s nuclear development and human rights, which have been matters of world concern for dozens of years. Moreover, as we process this lecture, it will examine both the Korean policy toward North Korea and inter-Korean relations, and discuss mutual relation among three issues (Nuclear, Human rights, and inter-Korean Relations).
In recent years, North Korea has given rise to significant concern about peace of the Korean Peninsula and the world through accelerating nuclear development such as sixth nuclear tests happened September 3rd, 2017. However, through the 2018 Pyeong Chang Olympic Winter Games, North Korea’s pursuit of dialogue has made a new phase. During the new phase, there have been several summits between North and South Korea, and the United States. However, after the United States and North Korea Hanoi Summit in February 2019, there has been a stagnation in dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea, so we needed to pay sharp attention to future change in the situation. At this time, it is essential to understand the three issues mentioned above which will guide us to desirable policy direction.
Byungdae Kim, visiting scholar at EASC (East Asian Studies Center) in Indiana University, has been working for Korean Ministry of Unification (MoU) for over twenty years. MoU is a unique organization in the world which handles all issues pertaining to inter-Korea relations and unification. He has been working in various areas, such as policy-making toward North Korea, inter-Korean dialogue, economic cooperation between two Koreas, and supporting for settlement of North Korean defectors. From September 2017 to April 2019 when he moved to the U.S., he has been a director general of Humanitarian Cooperation Bureau that is responsible for all kind humanitarian issues between two Koreas such as separated families, humanitarian assistance, human right, and North Korean defectors.