About the Expert
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 author of the forthcoming The United States-South Korea Alliance: Why It May Fail and Why It Must Not (December 2023), 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
Featured
Current Projects
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CFR experts discuss the upcoming U.S.-Japan-South Korea trilateral summit at Camp David, as well as the countries’ shared challenges in the Indo-Pacific.
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Sang Hyun Lee, president of the Sejong Institute; Jung-Yeop Woo, senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute; Sue Mi Terry, director of the Wilson Center's Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy; and Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, will be discussing the coordination of North Korea policy under the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
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The Stephen M. Kellen Term Member Program is supported by a generous gift from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation.
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CFR experts via Zoom preview President Joe Biden’s May 20-24 trip to Asia, including bilateral meetings with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and a meeting of the Quad Summit with leaders from Japan, India, and Australia.
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This workshop, held with generous support from the Sejong Institute, brings together prominent U.S. and South Korean specialists to discuss what can be done to break the diplomatic stalemate with North Korea.
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Panelists discuss the effects of the coronavirus across Asia, including lockdowns, economic challenges, and prospects for recovery.
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At the end of this month, President Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for the second time during his presidency. In advance of the summit, panelists discuss what to expect from this unique diplomatic moment, the prospect of denuclearization negotiations, and the future of U.S. policy toward North Korea.
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Scott Snyder discusses his new book, South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Powers. Snyder examines the trajectory of fifty years of South Korean foreign policy and offers predictions—and a prescription—for the future.
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Experts discuss U.S. foreign policy options toward North Korea.
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Related Readings:North Korea's Transition Dilemma, an interview with Scott A. SnyderThe U.S.-South Korea Alliance: Meeting New Security Challenges, edited by Scott A. Snyder
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The CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force report on U.S. Policy Toward the Korean Peninsula assesses current U.S. policy toward both North and South Korea. The report identifies three essential elements of an internationally coordinated response to the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear development effort: first, denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and an approach that attempts to resolve rather than simply manage the issue; second, regional cohesion, enabled by close U.S.-South Korea relations; and third, China’s cooperation and active engagement. This Task Force is made possible in part by generous support from the Korea Foundation. Related Reading: Independent Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward the Korean Peninsula