On behalf of Ambassador Richard Solomon, Chair of the Korea Working Group, the U.S. Institute of Peace cordially invites you to a USIP-Nixon Center public event on two new USIP Working Papers:

The Real Bridge to Nowhere: China's Foiled North Korea Strategy
Carla Freeman and Drew Thompson (May 2009)
Commissioned by USIP's Korea Working Group, this Working Paper examines the complexities of Chinese-North 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. China’s border with North Korea has proven more challenging and costly to manage over time than local Chinese authorities and Beijing had hoped, due in large part to North Korea’s failure to meet the economic needs of its people. China’s goals of deepening cross-border economic transactions through a more open border are challenged by the increased threats to local security presented by a porous border with a fragile state.

North Korea, Inc: Gaining Insights into North Korean Regime Stability from Recent Commercial Activities
John S. Park (May 2009)
Assessing regime stability in North Korea continues to be a major challenge for analysts. 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, we can develop a new framework for gauging regime stability. As interviews with defectors who previously worked in these state trading companies indicate, the regime is able to derive funds from North Korea, Inc. to maintain the loyalty of the North Korean elites and to provide a mechanism through which different branches of the North Korean state can generate funds for operating budgets. During periods when North Korea's international isolation deepens as a result of its brinkmanship activities, North Korea, Inc. constitutes an effective coping mechanism for the Kim Jong Il regime.

Carla Freeman
Associate Director, China Studies Program, SAIS

John S. Park
Director, Korea Working Group, Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention, USIP

Drew Thompson
Director, China Studies and Starr Senior Fellow, The Nixon Center