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Expert Bio
Scott A. Snyder is senior fellow for Korea studies and director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His program examines South Korea’s efforts to contribute on the international stage; its potential influence and contributions as a middle power in East Asia; and the peninsular, regional, and global implications of North Korean instability. Mr. Snyder is the coeditor of North Korea's Foreign Policy: The Kim Jong-un Regime in a Hostile World (January 2023) with Kyung-Ae Park, author of South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Powers (January 2018), coauthor of Domestic Constraints on South Korean Foreign Policy (January 2018) with Geun Lee, Young Ho Kim, and Jiyoon Kim, and coauthor of The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States (May 2015) with Brad Glosserman. Mr. Snyder served as the project director for CFR’s Independent Task Force on policy toward the Korean Peninsula. He currently writes for the blog Asia Unbound.
Prior to joining CFR, Mr. Snyder was a senior associate in the international relations program of the Asia Foundation, where he founded and directed the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy and served as the Asia Foundation’s representative in Korea (2000–2004). He was also a senior associate at Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies. Mr. Snyder has worked as an Asia specialist in the research and studies program of the U.S. Institute of Peace and as acting director of Asia Society’s contemporary affairs program. He was a Pantech visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center during 2005–2006, and received an Abe fellowship, administered by the Social Sciences Research Council, in 1998–1999. Mr. Snyder has provided advice to nongovernmental and humanitarian organizations active in North Korea and serves on the advisory council of the National Committee on North Korea.
Mr. Snyder received a BA from Rice University and an MA from the regional studies East Asia program at Harvard University. He was a Thomas G. Watson fellow at Yonsei University in South Korea.
Affiliations:
- Japan Bank of International Cooperation, consultant
- National Committee on North Korea, co-chair
- “Washington Talk,” VOA Korean Service, guest analyst
Current Projects
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Presidents Biden and Yoon pledged to deepen and broaden the scope of the U.S.-South Korea alliance, but their success could depend on how China, Japan, and North Korea respond.
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President-Elect Yoon Suk-yeol has pledged to strengthen ties with the United States and take a more hard-line approach toward China and North Korea than his predecessor.
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The vote for South Korea’s next president is taking place in a fractious political environment and is likely to bring a foreign policy neophyte to power.
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Kim Jong-un’s first ten years as North Korea’s leader were marked by economic failures, halting nuclear diplomacy, and a steady ramp-up of military power.
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Last week’s summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in aimed to bolster the alliance across a range of issues, with notable moves on supply chain resiliency and North Korea.
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With fresh agreement on sharing costs for the nearly thirty thousand U.S. troops in South Korea, the Biden administration can now focus on bolstering the alliance and addressing challenges posed by China and North Korea.
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North Korea will likely continue to develop its nuclear program, but Kim Jong-un could return to negotiations if the United States makes concessions.
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A renewed crisis on the Korean Peninsula could arise in the next twelve months. The United States should revamp UN sanctions and revitalize multilateral diplomacy in opposition to North Korea's nuclear development.
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Uncertainty in the U.S.-South Korea economic partnership could hinder security cooperation if left unchecked. The two countries should explore collaboration in AI technologies, policy coordination in the Indo-Pacific, and economic cooperation with North Korea.
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Washington’s request that Seoul pay more for their military alliance has heightened tensions between longtime allies and poses risks for regional security.
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Denuclearization talks over the weekend ended in another stalemate, and it remains to be seen if negotiations will resume in the coming weeks.
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Seoul’s decision to abandon an important military intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo could hurt regional security and U.S. interests related to China and North Korea.
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South Korea fired warning shots at a Russian warplane after it violated Seoul’s airspace over disputed islands. Here’s what that means for the region.
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Russian President Putin reiterated the importance of denuclearization during last week’s summit, but did not provide visible sanctions relief for North Korean leader Kim.
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President Trump is undermining his peace initiative with North Korea by abruptly raising the cost to South Korea for U.S. security.
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Ramped-up diplomacy in 2018 has eased tensions on the Korean Peninsula and led to a one-year halt in missile testing. But Pyongyang has not yet taken credible steps toward denuclearization.
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South Korea's President Moon Jae-in has had more success than many expected in Pyongyang for his third summit with North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un.
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Can South Korea’s Moon Jae-in broker a process for North Korean denuclearization acceptable to both Washington and Pyongyang?
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The first inter-Korean summit in ten years could be stage-managed by Kim Jong-un, but look for South Korea’s leaders to assert a role shaping the process for denuclearization talks.