John S. Park
Senior Research Associate (Northeast Asia), Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention
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One day after North Korea’s nuclear test drew widespread condemnation, the country on May 26th test-launched two more short-range missiles. This marks Pyongyang's second nuclear test, after its first in October 2006. Amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, South Korea joined the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S. initiative to curb the trade of weapons of mass destruction, an action North has called a declaration of war.
By examining how North Korea, Inc. — the web of state trading companies affiliated to the Korean Workers’ Party, the Korean People’s Army, and the Cabinet — operates, this report highlights a new framework for gauging regime stability in North Korea.
This report examines the complexities of Chinese-Norht Korean relations, taking into account the perspective of China's border areas, a vital aspect of China's relationship with the Korean peninsula that is often overlooked.
John S. Park focuses on Northeast Asian security, economic and energy issues and U.S. foreign policy toward the region. He is the director of the Institute’s Korea Working Group, a consultative body comprising senior experts from the government and think tank communities, and chaired by Ambassador Richard Solomon. Park is co-director of the U.S.-China Project on Crisis Avoidance and Cooperation, which is a collaborative endeavor with Fudan University and the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. Park is also co-director of the Trilateral Dialogue in Northeast Asia, which brings together U.S., South Korean and Japanese partners.
Park came to the Institute from Goldman Sachs’ public finance group in New York. Prior to that, he was the project leader of the North Korea Analysis Group, a Managing the Atom working group at the Harvard Kennedy School. Park previously worked in Goldman Sachs’ M&A Advisory Group in Hong Kong and The Boston Consulting Group’s Financial Services Practice in Seoul. In both positions, he specialized in post-Asian Financial Crisis economic restructuring in South Korea. Park’s writings have appeared in the Washington Quarterly, Wall Street Journal Asia,Jane's Intelligence Review, International Herald Tribune, and Far Eastern Economic Review. He has also commented on the Six-Party Talks on BBC World Service, CNN, CNBC Asia, Bloomberg TV, NPR and Reuters.
Park received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University. He completed his predoctoral and postdoctoral training at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Multimedia
- Park: Private Sector Solution Could Resolve North Korean ?Radioactive Funds? Issue Council on Foreign Relations, June 5, 2007
Publications:
- "North Korea's Nuclear Policy Behavior: Deterrence and Leverage," in Nuclear Weapons and Security in 21st Century Asia, edited by Muthiah Alagappa (Stanford University Press, 2008).
- "Will North Korea Disarm?" Jane's Intelligence Review (August 2008).
- Keeping an Eye on an Unruly Neighbor: Chinese Views of Economic Reform and Stability in North Korea
Working Paper, November 2007 - "How China can Bring Sunshine to Korea," Far Eastern Economic Review (June 2006).
- "Path for Seoul's Sunshine Policy," The Korea Times (April 5, 2006).
- "Inside Multilateralism: The Six-Party Talks," Washington Quarterly (Autumn 2005).
- "Creating a Best Case Scenario," Korea Confronts the Future, edited by John Barry Kotch and Frank-Jürgen Richter (Marshall Cavendish, 2005).
- "Detecting Danger," Harvard International Review (Spring 2005).
- "North Korea's Grip on China," The Globe and Mail (February 23, 2005).
- "China's Herculean N. Korea Task," The Korea Herald (February 12, 2005).
- "North Korean Crisis: China Shows the Way to Pyongyang," International Herald Tribune (May 14, 2004).
- "China Holds the Key to Unlocking the North Korean Crisis," Globe and Mail (August 8, 2003).
- "A Chinese Roadmap For Korea," Asian Wall Street Journal (June 30, 2003).
Available on usip.org:
Events
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May 20, 2008
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February 10, 2009
A public event co-sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' North Korea International Documentation Project: This event has already taken place. Countries: North Korea
| Issue Areas: Conflict Analysis, Political Systems and International Relations
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March 17, 2009
A public event co-sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Asia Society Countries: China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea
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