How does North Korea's Kim Jong-un see the incoming Biden administration? Does Kim see a diplomatic path forward that builds on the initial, partial success with Trump? Will North Korea keep itself on a steady footing or might destabilizing stressors cause Kim to lash out? Would Kim seek to up the ante with a new missile or nuclear test, or will he continue a “wait and see” posture?

To discuss these vital topics, the Center for the National Interest in cooperation with the National Interest hosted a panel of the following top experts:

- Ken Gause, is the Director of the Adversary Analytics Program at CNA. He is also CNA’s senior foreign leadership analyst and has spent the last twenty years developing methodologies for examining leadership dynamics of hard-target, authoritarian regimes. In particular, he is an internationally respected expert on North Korea who has written three books on North Korean leadership. His latest book is “North Korean House of Cards: Leadership Dynamics Under Kim Jong-un.”

- Soo Kim, is a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation and an adjunct instructor at American University. Her research interests include the Korean Peninsula, Russia, Indo-Pacific strategy, near-peer competition, decisionmaking, propaganda, and the intelligence community. She served as an analyst in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and also worked at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

- John Dale Grover, is the Korean Studies Fellow at the Center for the National Interest. Through an Atomic Reporters fellowship, he published an original series, “How South Korea’s Politics and Military Impacts Strategic Stability With North Korea,” based on in-person interviews during a trip to Seoul in November 2019.

- Harry J. Kazianis, Senior Director of Korean Studies at the Center for the National Interest, moderated the discussion.

Please see above for the full video of the event. 

Image: Reuters.