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Joel S. Wit, a former U.S. Department of State official and coauthor of Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis, writes, “A policy of enhanced engagement that articulates a positive vision for the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia; seeks to rapidly identify common ground with Pyongyang; builds productive communication; sets negotiating priorities; establishes realistic nuclear objectives; and creates a successful, sustained process of implementation holds the best chance for resolving the crisis and securing U.S. interests.”

Andrei Lankov, lecturer in the faculty of Asian Studies, China and Korea Center, Australian National University, writes, “news emanating from the North since late 2004 seems to indicate that the government is now working hard to turn the clock back, to revive the system that existed until the early 1990s and then collapsed under the manifold pressures of famine and social disruption.”

James Church (a pseudonym) is the author of the detective novel, A Corpse in the Koryo, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2006. In this essay, Church meets Inspector O, the primary fictional character in A Corpse in the Koryo and discusses the state of play in the DPRK after the October 9th nuclear test.

Peter Hayes, Executive Director of the Nautilus Institute, contributes this review of A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church, a detective novel set in North Korea. Peter writes, “Those who want to really understand what is happening in North Korea should read this book, not only because it is gripping, but because it is the best unclassified account of how North Korea works and why it has survived all these years when the rest of the communist world capitulated to the global market a decade ago. This novel should be required bedtime reading for President Bush and his national security team.”

Inspector O And The Case Of The Missing Tea Thermos Inspector O And The Case Of The Missing Tea Thermos Policy Forum Online 06-105A: December 18th, 2006 Inspector O And The Case Of The Missing Tea Thermos Article by Peter Hayes CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Article by Peter Hayes III. Nautilus invites your responses I. […]

Glyn Ford, Member of the European Parliament and part of the Parliament’s Delegation for the Korean Peninsula, writes, “Pyongyang and Washington agree on one thing, that you can’t trust the other. And they’re both right. Any final solution requires both sides’ agreement, but not enthusiasm. The nuclear package could be put together with South Korean money, Russian technology and Chinese political will.”

Mark J. Valencia, a maritime policy analyst based in Hawaii and the author of “The Proliferation Security Initiative: Making Waves in Asia”, writes, “Thus for both Straits states and user states the agreement is much ado about little. The only incremental change is the establishment of a forum in which user states can use to pressure the Straits states regarding their security concerns. User state assistance in improving safety and security in the Straits remains elusive. And the interests of the Straits states and the user states are likely to continue to clash.”

Zhiqun Zhu, assistant professor of international political economy and diplomacy at the University of Bridgeport, writes, “Now that North Korea has taken a giant step towards joining the nuclear club, finger pointing is unhelpful. All major players involved share responsibilities for the diplomatic failure. The international community needs to think prudently what to do next.”

Moo-jin Yang, Director for External Affairs at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, writes, “With the reopening of the Six-Party Talks at hand and the Democratic victory in the U.S. midterm elections, it is highly possible that the means of resolving the North Korean nuclear issue will switch from the single track of sanctions to a two-track diplomacy of pressure and negotiations. South Korea must strengthen its role as an active mediator in the process of negotiations and utilize the opportunity presented by the restoration of inter-Korean relations.”

Bradley O. Babson, a former World Bank official and expert on Asian affairs with a concentration on the North Korean economy and Northeast Asia economic cooperation, writes, “Depending on the choices made by stakeholders both inside and outside the DPRK, the future path could be highly destabilizing or highly transformational with positive outcomes for regional security and economic prosperity for the North Korean people.”