Vital Venture:
Economic Engagement of North Korea and the Kaesong Industrial Complex
Date & Time: Thu, 03/08/2012 - 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Location: KEI Conference Room
1800 K ST NW, Washington,
DC 20006
Speakers: Patrick Cronin, Center for New American
Security ; Jack Pritchard, KEI
Description:
The 800-acre Kaesong
Industrial Complex, located just miles from the DMZ, is now the barometer for
economic cooperation between North and South Korea. In the past decade, North
Korea has increasingly relied on Chinese assistance and investment, thereby
diminishing South Korean economic leverage. Due to North Korea’s need for
sponsorship, it is plausible to conclude that “as Kaesong goes, so goes the
future of North Korea.”
At a launch event
hosted by the Korea Economic Institute on March 8, from 12:00-1:30 p.m., the
Center for a New American Security (CNAS) will release Vital Venture: Economic
Engagement of North Korea and the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a new report
authored by Patrick M. Cronin, CNAS Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the
Asia-Pacific Security Program. In the report, Cronin provides insight into the
dynamics at Kaesong and strongly argues for using political transition on both
sides of the DMZ to engage, probe and reassess approaches to North Korea.
Incorporating extensive interactions with South Korean government officials and
scholars, Vital Venture analyzes North Korean adaptation and survival
strategies, investigates the history of Kaesong and its status after the
Sunshine Policy as well as its significant implications for U.S. policy.
Ambassador Jack Pritchard will provide commentary on this thought provoking
paper.
VITAL VENTURE:
ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF NORTH KOREA AND THE KAESONG INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Author: Dr. Patrick M.
Cronin
Type of Publication:
Report
Date: 03/01/2012
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Policy discussion in
Washington is monopolized by denuclearization. In the meanwhile, China’s
economic investment in N. Korea increased ten fold, giving it more leverage and
influence on N. Korea.
Gaesong industrial
complex is a metaphor for both S. Korea government and Washington in terms of
policy decision to be made in the near future.
