On Sunday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that Beijing would suspend all imports of coal from North Korea for the remainder of 2017, cutting off a major source of export earnings for Pyongyang. The announcement comes nearly three months after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2321, which capped North Korean coal exports at 7.5 million metric tons or about $400 million annually. ... | Read More

NCNK member and CSIS Senior Adviser and Korea Chair Dr. Victor Cha testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, February 7 to discuss the threat posed by North Korea and offer recommendations for policy priorities for the United States. ... | Read More

In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relation Committee today, Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow and NCNK Steering Committee Co-Chair Scott Snyder outlined the state of U.S. efforts to address North Korea's nuclear program, and provided policy recommendations for Congress and the new Administration. ... | Read More

South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh reveals that President Obama provided humanitarian aid earmarked for flood relief through the United Nations to North Korea just before leaving office. The article notes that the provision of aid could provide needed momentum to reset US-DPRK relations by the new Trump administration.

The US government has reportedly sent humanitarian aid earmarked for flood relief to North Korea’s North Hamgyong Province via the UN. ... | Read More

In an article for Arms Control Today, Social Science Research Council's Leon Sigal, parses through clues to the next administration's North Korea policy and suggests that Trump should follow through on his impulse to engage in talks with North Korea, rather than the recommendations Trump will likely receive to continue a policy of "strategic patience."  ... | Read More

In a New York Times op-ed, Stanford University's Siegfried Hecker argues that the incoming Trump administration should move quickly to engage in bilateral negotiations with North Korea. Hecker, also director emeritus at Los Alamos National Laboratory, says that reestablishing communication with North Korea could help prevent a nuclear crisis, and could also garner support from China and other countries in the region. ... | Read More

In Kim Jong Un's annual New Year's address, he re-emphasized themes from the May 2016 Workers' Party Congress, discussed military and economic policy, and referenced the widespread protests that have taken place in South Korea. ... | Read More