China & North Korea Relations – John Park

UPenn Center for the Study of Contemporary China

As the nuclear standoff between North Korea and the United States dominates global headlines, the relationship between North Korea and China, though little understood, has attracted ever greater interest. In this episode, the Harvard Kennedy School's John Park, a leading expert on security issues relating to Northeast Asia, discusses with Neysun Mahboubi the complex relationship between North Korea and China, with special attention to the economic dynamics at play since China established diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1992. The episode was recorded on February 23, 2018 at the Center for the Study of Contemporary China, following Dr. Park's lecture on "The Legacy of Beijing’s Sunshine Policy with Chinese Characteristics: What are the Implications for U.S. Policy towards North Korea?"

John Park is a Lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School, where he is Director of the Korea Working Group, as well as a Faculty Affiliate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He previously directed Northeast Asia Track 1.5 projects at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and currently advises Northeast Asia policy-focused officials in the U.S. government. Dr. Park is a frequent media commentator on Asian geopolitical issues, including on CNN, CNBC, BBC, and Bloomberg TV, and he has testified on these issues before both House and Senate committees in the past year. His publications include "Stopping North Korea, Inc.: Sanctions Effectiveness and Unintended Consequences" (with Jim Walsh); "The Key to the North Korean Targeted Sanctions Puzzle"; and "North Korea, Inc.: Gaining Insights into North Korean Regime Stability from Recent Commercial Activities".

Music credit: "Salt" by Poppy Ackroyd, follow her at http://poppyackroyd.com

Special thanks to Seung-Youn Oh and Nick Marziani