Glyn Ford

Most states have adopted a foreign policy of non-engagement with North Korea (DPRK). But are the advantages of non-engagement outweighed by the potential dangers? Should countries that currently do not engage instead try to understand the motivations of the North Korean leadership?

Glyn Ford will challenge what he sees as media myths which he argues paint North Korea as a rogue state run by a ‘mad leader’. Informed by his experience of direct access to the leadership of the DPRK, Ford will offer his analysis of the internal logic of the regime. Acknowledging that North Korea is a deeply flawed state with an atrocious record on human rights, he will make the case that sections of the leadership are desperate to modernize and end its isolation. But the country is trapped in an arms race against its ‘enemies’ and has, in some ways, become dependent on its nuclear programme. What if, instead of forcing regime change, the West talked to those who want to change the regime from within?