The Program: North Korea’s Nuclear Program: Where Do We Go From Here?

Despite several attempts over the past 30 years to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions, the country has continued its pursuits. With great power competition pushing for a more values-based world order and Northeast Asia engaged in an accelerating arms race, the prospects for resuming talks with Pyongyang seem to be narrowing. In this geopolitical environment, what are the new or heightened risks that North Korea’s advancing nuclear capabilities pose and how should our policies and approaches adapt to these new realities?

Presenter: Jenny Town

Jenny Town is a Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center and the Director of Stimson’s 38 North Program. Her expertise is in North Korea, US-DPRK relations, US-ROK alliance and Northeast Asia regional security. She was named one of Worth Magazine’s “Groundbreakers 2020: 50 Women Changing the World” and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business in 2019 for her role in co-founding and managing the 38 North website, which provides policy and technical analysis on North Korea.

Ms. Town is also an expert reviewer for Freedom House’s Freedom in the World Index, where she previously worked on the Human Rights in North Korea Project; an Associate Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), a Member of the National Committee on North Korea, and an Associate Member of the Council of Korean Americans. She serves on the Editorial Board for Inkstick, an online foreign policy journal for emerging scholars.

From 2008-2018, Ms. Town served as the Assistant Director of the US-Korea Institute at SAIS. She holds a BA in East Asian Studies and International Relations from Westmar University and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Thursday, February 2, 2023 6:00pm
Tanoan Country Club