Scott A. Snyder advocates the need for more effective regional coordination on contingency planning for North Korean instability.

This module features teaching notes by CFR Senior Fellow and Director of CFR's Center for Preventative Action Paul B. Stares, coauthor of Preparing for Sudden Change in North Korea, along with other resources to supplement the text. This Council Special Report addresses the foreign policy challenge of how the United States and its allies can prepare for the possibility of sudden and destabilizing change in North Korea.

Korea expert Victor D. Cha says effective implementation of the UN sanctions imposed on Pyongyang in June prompted recent conciliatory gestures from the regime. He says the United States might resume bilateral talks with North Korea in addition to pursuing multilateral discussions on Pyongyang's nuclear program.

CFR Korea expert Scott A. Snyder says the visit to Pyongyang by former President Bill Clinton, which won the pardon of two U.S. journalists, provided a rare opportunity to gauge North Korea's views as nuclear talks remain stalled.

Scott A. Snyder says, "Bill Clinton's visit might turn out to be the equivalent of hitting the 'reset' button in U.S. relations with North Korea."

Human rights in North Korea have been on the diplomatic back burner with Washington preoccupied over the nuclear question. Human rights specialist Roberta Cohen proposes a multilateral security mechanism for Northeast Asia that focuses on a broad range of issues, from energy to human rights.

Scott A. Snyder discusses the retrenchment of North Korea's domestic policy.

Kara McDonald argues, "one of the strongest multilateral sanctions architectures ever created already exists to pressure North Korea; it just needs to be enforced."

Andrew Higgins examines Kim Jong Un's, the third son and heir apparent of Kim Jong Il, sojourn at a Swiss high school and speculates whether his experiences there will have an effect on his reign as North Korea's next leader.

Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland write that sanctions alone are not enough to force North Korea to relinquish its nuclear weapons, but that the United States and other countries can make an impact if they pursue North Korea's international financial intermediaries, such as China.

Scott A. Snyder argues, "North Korea never gave the President a chance to reach out before acting provocatively by conducting a second nuclear weapons test..."

Scott A. Snyder writes that "North Korea may believe it has found a successful approach to getting what it wants from the United States."

CFR Fellow Kara C. McDonald says the new UN Security Council Resolution against North Korea is one of the strongest set of sanctions adopted thus far by the body, though success in bringing North Korea back to the negotiation table is dependent on enforcement.

Charles Ferguson argues that "fresh sanctions on a cash-poor North Korean regime could help cause exactly the situation we hope to prevent - nuclear proliferation."

Scott A. Snyder testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment; and Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. His testimony addresses North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests and Six-Party talks.

Washington has reassured Seoul of continued U.S. support for South Korean security, but CFR's Scott Snyder says some aspects of South Korean policy toward North Korea and the United States could become divisive in South Korean domestic politics.

Jack Pritchard, John H. Tilelli Jr., and Scott A. Snyder discuss the three main issues President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak must address at their meeting in Washington today.

The former deputy chief of the U.S. delegation to the six-party talks on North Korea during the Bush administration shares his observations on Kim Jong Il's true intentions and goals.

Northeast Asian regional security talks appear increasingly doomed since North Korea's latest missile and nuclear tests. CFR's Sheila Smith argues the talks are worth reviving.