The U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) and AEI will be launching a new HRNK report entitled, “Marked For Life: Songbun, North Korea’s Social Classification System,” which will be discussed at this event. The panel will also examine the extent to which the growing reliance on money and bribery is eroding the songbun system’s influence.

The precipitous chill in U.S.-Japan relations after the Democratic Party of Japan came to power in 2009 and mishandled security relations should offer a sobering warning to Korean and American officials. As close as Tokyo and Washington have traditionally been, heated domestic rhetoric and policy miscues quickly damaged the relationship, which is still recovering.

Contributing to the Center for New American Security's Flashpoints: Security in the East and South China Seas, Michael Auslin writes on increasing tensions in the East China Sea and offers policy considerations.

Ever since its founding in 1948, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has maintained an aggressive and bellicose international security posture. Today, fully two decades after the end of the Cold War, North Korea's external defense and security policies look arguably more extreme and anomalous than ever.

The Sunshine Policy, an effort to engage North Korea initially implemented under South Korean president Kim Dae Jung, appears increasingly ineffective in light of North Korea's continued nuclear threat and oppression of its people.

While strong support for South Korea following the tragic murder by North Korea of 46 sailors is welcome news, an unnecessary concession to China is less promising.

Blowing up North Korea's missile would help achieve a durable peace.

In anticipation of North Korea's imminent missile launch, AEI director of Japan Studies Michael Auslin makes the case for why the US should shoot down the missile in order to preserve peace in the region.