North Korea Foreign Policy Under the Three Kims: Insights into the DPRK's Foreign Relations

This talk will discuss the historical and contemporary foreign policy objectives and dynamics of the North Korean government.

Benjamin R. Young will examine the foreign policy shifts undertaken by North Korea under the leadership of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un. He will explore how the Kim family regime has pivoted away from its previous emphasis on solidarity with "small countries" and the Third World, instead reasserting North Korea's focus on building stronger ties with the "big countries," particularly Russia. Young will analyze the motivations behind this strategic reorientation, the implications for North Korea's regional and global positioning, and the broader geopolitical dynamics that have shaped this foreign policy transformation under Kim Jong Un’s rule.

Yong Suk Lee will examine the key foreign policy lessons learned by North Korea over the past three decades, from the four-party talks in the late 1990s to the Hanoi Summit in 2019 and beyond. Drawing on his observations and analyses from his senior leadership position within the CIA, Lee will provide insights into the evolution of US-North Korea relations, North Korea’s engagement with China, and the dynamics of the inter-Korean relationship. By reflecting on North Korea's diplomatic maneuvers, Lee will offer a nuanced understanding of the driving forces and strategic calculations behind Pyongyang's foreign policy decision-making during this pivotal period.

Ria Roy, a Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution, will lead the discussion.

SPEAKERS:

Mr. Yong Suk Lee is the Director of Global Risk Analysis for Google’s Global Security & Resilience Services. Mr. Lee leads analytic teams based in Boulder, Dubai, London, New Delhi, New York, São Paulo, Singapore, Washington DC, and Zurich. He is currently a Visiting Scholar, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Senior Fellow for Asia, Foreign Policy Research Institute; and a Fellow, National Security Institute, George Mason University. Before joining Google, Mr. Lee served for 22 years in various senior leadership positions with the Central Intelligence Agency as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service. His key assignments included service as the Deputy Assistant Director of CIA for the Korea Mission Center, Chief of Korea Department, and as a Briefer on the President’s Daily Briefing staff. Mr. Lee joined the CIA in 1997 as a North Korea analyst. He has a BA from the University of Colorado and an MA from Ohio University.

Benjamin R. Young is currently an assistant professor of homeland security and emergency preparedness at Virginia Commonwealth University. In August 2024, he will be a Stanton Foundation Nuclear Security Fellow at the RAND Corporation. He is the author of the book, Guns, Guerillas, and the Great Leader: North Korea and the Third World (Stanford University Press, 2021). Previously, he taught at Dakota State University and the U.S Naval War College. He has published more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles on various aspects of North Korean history, international security, and U.S-Asia relations. He was a 2018-2019 CSIS/USC NextGen US-Korea Scholar and has also written journalistic pieces for The Washington Post, The Diplomat, Nikkei Asia, The National Interest, and NKNews.org. 
 

DISCUSSANT: Ria Roy, a Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution, is a specialist in the history of modern Korea and East Asia. Her doctoral dissertation, which she is currently turning into a book, examines the intellectual and cultural history of North Korea in the context of the Japanese Empire’s legacy as well as the influence of the revolutionary bloc. In particular, she explores the history and development of the leadership succession in North Korea, focusing on the role of intellectuals and their ideas in the generation of the unique North Korean model of leadership. More broadly, she is interested in the intellectual interplay between East and West and how it paved the way for a transition to an illiberal modernity. Roy received her PhD from the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar. She previously received her MA from Harvard University and her BA from Waseda University in Japan.

All media representatives interested in covering the event or accessing the event site should contact aparc-communications@stanford.edu by 5 PM Pacific Time, Monday, May 6.

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