Session: Plenary Session 4 / Regency Room
Date/Time: April 23, 2014 / 14:00-15:15

Moderator:
Victor Cha, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Speakers:
Chun Yungwoo, The Asan Institute for Policy Studies
Alexander Lukin, Diplomatic Academy, MFA of Russia
Evans Revere, Brookings Institution
Scott Snyder, Council on Foreign Relations
Yang Xiyu, China Institute of International Studies

Panel Description
Twenty years since the rest of the Communist bloc collapsed or took the path of economic opening and reform, North Korea limps on, clinging to its anachronistic ways. Three generations of the Kim dynasty have successfully weathered decades of international isolation, economic collapse, and humanitarian disaster. North Korea has acquired the ultimate deterrent of nuclear weapons with which it blackmails the international community. Countless rounds of the Six-Party Talks have failed to persuade it to denuclearize. With Kim Jong-un firmly ensconced in power following the latest round of purges and provocations, North Korea may be with us for a very long time to come. What explains the regime’s remarkable resilience? Who is really in power in Pyongyang? How should the international community deal with this anomaly par excellence?