Category: Geopolitical Affairs

The U.S. and South Korea have promised a bright future for North Korea if it denuclearizes. Reform is fundamentally North Korea’s choice. But a successful economic transition will take a long time given that North Korea remains stuck in a low-income trap. Pyongyang’s “marketization from below” and ring-fenced infrastructure projects will not be enough. North Korea will require substantial and sustained amounts of external financing, hence the need for it to establish creditworthiness. The path to a bright future is institutional reform and the normalization of relations with the international community, and the gateway is the IMF.

Simply stated, North Korea must accomplish the following to establish even a modicum of creditworthiness: Restructure external debt, normalize relations with creditors; Engage the IMF, join the World Bank and regional development banks; Seek technical assistance for capacity building; Improve transparency; Obtain an international credit rating; Further strengthen economic institutions.

Korea Society President Tom Byrne and Associate Director of Policy Jonathan Corrado are primary authors of a new report investigating how North Korea might develop creditworthiness in order to finance its post-nuclear development. The report’s findings were first presented on June 19, 2019, at The Korea Economic Institute (KEI) in Washington D.C. The project was made possible through the generous support of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP).

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

Joseph Kim was born and raised in North Korea. At the age of 12, his father died of starvation and he was separated from his mother and sister. In 2006, Joseph escaped North Korea into China. A year later, he was resettled in the United States as a North Korean refugee.

Since then, Joseph has shared his story from the TED stage, has published a memoir, “Under the Same Sky,” has graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from Bard College, and now works at the George W. Bush Institute as an assistant on the Human Freedom Initiative.

Special event co-hosted with Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), Joseph Kim recounts his fight to survive in North Korea, how he managed to escape and reach freedom and why he believes there is hope for his people.

Hope For My People with Joseph Kim

Monday, June 24, 2019

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

Harvard Medical School Global Surgery Scholar Kee B. Park, M.D. and Korea Foundation-Vrije Universiteit Brussel Korea Chair Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo examined North Korea’s growing injury burden and the regime’s ability to respond. They addressed marketization, affluence, political factors, domestic and international resource mobilization, sanctions impact, and roadmaps for a multistakeholder national system.

Trauma Care and North Korea
with
Kee B. Park and Ramon Pacheco Pardo

Thursday, June 20, 2019 | 6 PM

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

Stanford University Visiting Fellow Andray Abrahamian and Korea Economic Institute Nonresident Fellow Yonho Kim join Society President Thomas Byrne to discuss how North Korea’s marketization has impacted social ties, communication, governance, and culture.

Marketization and North Korea
with
Andray Abrahamian and Yonho Kim

Thursday, June 13, 2019 | 12 PM

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

The National Committee on American Foreign Policy spearheads an all-day discussion among senior U.S., Korean and Chinese scholars, analysts, and former government officials at the Korea Society on North Korea’s missile and nuclear development and regional security. By Invitation.

Korea-U.S.-China Relations: National Committee on American Foreign Policy Trilateral Dialogue

Thursday, May 23, 2019 | 9 AM

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017