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Session 1. https://youtu.be/JBX2pQGjO-I

Session 2. https://youtu.be/PWPLMrTNiQw

Institute for Far East Studies, Kyungnam University (Director Kwan-Sei Lee) 

held an international academic conference (webinar, simultaneous interpretation) in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Christian Taaks, Head of FNF Korea Office) at the conference room of the Samcheong-dong Research Center in Seoul on Tuesday, November 2, 2021. 

This webinar, which was held under the theme of “North Korea’s Past Decade under Kim Jong-un’s Rule and What the Future Holds,” was divided into two sessions: “Evaluation and Outlook of North Korea under Kim Jong-un” and “DPRK Military, Foreign Relations, and Inter-Korean Relations.”

In the first session, several papers were presented: Kyungmo Ahn (Associate Professor, Korea National Defense University) presented on “The Change of the Ideology and the Grand Strategy in the Kim Jong-un Era”; Il-Han Kim (Researcher, Dongguk University DMZ Peace Center) presented on “From ‘Military first’ to ‘People first’: An Evaluation and Prospect of North Korea’s ‘Normal’ State Strategy”; and Young-Sun Jeon (HK Research Professor, Institute of Humanities for Unification, Konkuk University) gave a presentation on “An Assessment of North Korea’s Strategy of Social Control: ‘Stimulation of Desire’ vs. ‘Ideological and Cultural Censorship.”  Discussion on these papers was provided by Hisashi Hirai (Visiting research fellow, IFES Kyungnam University), Eul-Chul Lim (Professor, IFES Kyungnam University), and Youngcheol Chung (Professor, Sogang University), respectively.

In the second session, four presentations were made: Cheol-wun Jang (Research fellow, Korea Institute for National Unification) presented a paper on “Changes in the KPA’s Military Power and Role: Evaluation and Prospects”; Bong Sup Shin (Visiting professor, Kwangwoon University) on “North Korea-China Relations during Kim Jong-un’s Presidency: Evaluation and Prospects”; Won Gon Park (Associate Professor, Ewha Womans University) on “The Relationship between the U.S. and North Korea under Kim Jung Un’s Ten Years: A Duet of Continuity and Disruption”; and Seong-Chang Cheong (Director, the Center for North Korean Studies, Sejong Institute) on “An Assessment of the Last Decade of the Kim Jong-un Regime’s South Korea Policy and Its Future Prospects.” Discussion on these presentations was provided by Ildo Hwang (Assistant Professor, IFANS, Korean National Diplomatic Academy), Sang-Man Lee (Professor, IFES Kyungnam University), Jiyoung Zheng (Professor, Fudan University), and Hyungsuk Kim (Professor, Daejin University).

Director Lee Kwan-Sei, who moderated both sessions of the conference, said, “The work of comprehensively evaluating the 10 years of Kim Jong-un’s regime from the perspective of continuity and change is important in evaluating the stability of the North Korean regime, including the durability and leadership of the supreme leader.” Director Lee also evaluated that “Today's seminar will be a very meaningful when making suggestions for the direction of the next South Korean government's unification and North Korea policy."