Author of Becoming Kim Jong Un. Former CIA. Former State Dept. Former Brookings Inst Sr Fellow. Personal account.
Washington, DC
Joined July 2015
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The paperback is out! So grateful to the team @randomhouse for the ongoing support and enthusiasm for this project.
Good piece by @shaneharris. Yes, analysts support POTUS. But they also work closely with ops colleagues, providing assessments, inc on adversaries’ likely responses, potential scenarios, leadership intentions. To have ops w/o strong analysis is a hobbled CIA and a less secure US
New in @TheAtlantic, my profile of CIA Director John Ratcliffe, one of Trump's closest advisers, and the man in the middle of the president's deeply conflicted Ukraine policy.
theatlantic.com/national-sec…
Good job by FBI, DOJ and U.S. intel. North Korean IT workers generate untold sums for Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program. There’s also a human rights element, as the workers toil under harsh conditions and must relinquish 80-90% of income to the regime.
Thoughtful, incredibly eloquent conversation among three of the best. The observation that “our perceptions of China in America are entwined with our perceptions of ourselves” is especially resonant.
1/ 💥Sharing podcast (and transcript) of discussion with @eosnos, one of the most perceptive chroniclers of China's national journey. He takes us into his reporting from "Age of Ambition" to how he ended up quoting a fortune teller in his latest piece.
brookings.edu/articles/is-ch…
Great piece by @AndrewIYeo on Ukr-ROK spat and what it reveals about the politics and priorities of Kyiv and Seoul.
🧵1/3 In my latest @TIME Ideas op-ed, I look at the geopolitical fallout after President Zelensky revealed at the UN that Ukraine transferred two captured North Korean POWs to South Korea @brookingsfp @CatholicUniv time.com/article/2026/10/09/…
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
“The dawn of a new era of great-power competition has been an unwelcome development for many small countries and middle powers, but North Korea has fared better than most by leveraging its nuclear arsenal to avoid getting trampled by bigger players,” writes @junghpak1.
foreignaffairs.com/north-kor…
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
📢 IN 4 DAYS | CSIS-CSDS Transatlantic Dialogue on the Indo-Pacific
How are U.S. allies navigating simultaneous crises in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific—and what does this mean for global coordination?
Join @CSIS & @CSDS_Brussels for the 6th annual dialogue featuring leading experts from the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
📅 Tuesday, May 26, 2026
🕑 2:00–3:00 PM ET
📍 In-person at CSIS HQ | Webcast
🔗 RSVP: csis.org/events/2026-csis-cs…
🎤 Speakers: @VictorDCha · @LuisSimn · @maxbergmann @csiserep · @KristiGovella · @EPejsova @VUBrussel · @MichitoTsuruoka @Keio_KCS · Nicholas Szechenyi @JapanChair
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
Tomorrow marks one year since we launched our first online exhibition, "Open Source: Ukraine and the Intelligence Revolution." View the exhibit: osint.spymuseum.org/
Since then, thousands have explored how publicly available data, from social media posts to flight logs, are transforming modern intelligence collection. As the conflict in Ukraine continues to shape global security, this digital exhibition remains a powerful window into the role open source information plays in uncovering truth and shaping battlefields in real time.
#OSINT #OnlineExhibit #SpyMuseum
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
📢 EVENT | The Strategic Value of China to Korea
Join us at @CSIS for an in‑person conference featuring leading scholars and former policymakers examining:
• China’s strategic value to South Korea
• Korea’s role in a potential Taiwan contingency
• China’s record on North Korea
📅 May 13, 2026
⏰ 9:00 AM–1:30 PM ET (lunch provided)
🔗 RSVP: csis.org/events/strategic-va…
🎙️ Featured speakers include:
@VictorDCha · @sydseiler · @RushDoshi · @MarkCancian · @AndrewIYeo · @patricia_m_kim · @snydersas · @junghpak1 · @augama · @bostonsunny · @sungminchohi · @Henrietta_Ivy · Joseph Yun · Mark Lambert
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
“With its improved military, its recovering economy, and its various new relationships at the regional and subnational levels, North Korea has more strategic and tactical flexibility than ever before,” writes @junghpak1.
foreignaffairs.com/north-kor…
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
📢EVENT I The Strategic Value of China to Korea
Join us @CSIS for a half-day, in-person conference featuring leading scholars and former policymakers examining:
• China’s strategic value to South Korea
• Korea’s role in a potential Taiwan contingency
• China’s track record on North Korea
📅 May 13, 2026
⏰ 9:00 AM–1:30 PM EDT (lunch provided)
📍 CSIS Headquarters, Washington, DC
🔗 RSVP: csis.org/events/strategic-va…
CC @Henrietta_Ivy @junghpak1
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
Enjoyed having @junghpak1 @JChengWSJ at @BrookingsFP this morning to discuss, power, religion, and ideology in North Korea as well as U.S.-North Korea relations and what might come out of a Trump-Kim meeting. ICYMI, link is here! youtube.com/watch?v=miO-udW4…
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
❗️New Analysis❗️
"How North Korea Won: The Strange Triumph of Kim Jong Un", by Jung H. Pak in Foreign Affairs.
Read
foreignaffairs.com/north-kor… @junghpak1
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
An excellent piece by @junghpak1.
“Washington must reckon with the new geostrategic landscape because however Kim chooses to advance his goals—through diplomatic or military means or a combination of both—what happens on the Korean Peninsula won’t stay on the Korean Peninsula.”
2026 is not 2018 or 2019—it is time to take the North Korea, Russia, and China threat seriously.
“In the past, Washington has been able to work with Beijing and Moscow, albeit to a limited extent, to restrain Pyongyang and prevent a military confrontation,” writes @junghpak1. “But today, the North Korea challenge is both more formidable and more durable.” fam.ag/4vWVDZU
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
A superb follow-on article to update a masterful book. A must read.
My book Becoming Kim Jong Un (@penguinrandom 2020) ended the story in 2019. I wrote this essay for @ForeignAffairs to cover 2020-2025 to show how Kim mastered Covid, China, and geopolitics.
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
@junghpak1's excellent article argues that Kim Jong Un has dispensed with reform and leveraged great-power rivalry to expand his strategic autonomy. The price of renewed US engagement will be costly, and even Putin has to guard against entrapment by his newfound ally in Pyongyang.
My book Becoming Kim Jong Un (@penguinrandom 2020) ended the story in 2019. I wrote this essay for @ForeignAffairs to cover 2020-2025 to show how Kim mastered Covid, China, and geopolitics.
My book Becoming Kim Jong Un (@penguinrandom 2020) ended the story in 2019. I wrote this essay for @ForeignAffairs to cover 2020-2025 to show how Kim mastered Covid, China, and geopolitics.
“In the past, Washington has been able to work with Beijing and Moscow, albeit to a limited extent, to restrain Pyongyang and prevent a military confrontation,” writes @junghpak1. “But today, the North Korea challenge is both more formidable and more durable.” fam.ag/4vWVDZU
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
Mark your calendar! On Monday, April 27, from 10:00 am - 11:00 am, watch @JChengWSJ, @junghpak1, and @AndrewIYeo delve into the authoritarianism, dynastic leadership, and state ideology of North Korea: brook.gs/4c1Lemg
Jung H. Pak, PhD retweeted
"Some of the cables describe anti-U.S. sentiment that is having an immediate impact, while others raise concerns that relationships could be in danger if the war continues much longer" Great @nahaltoosi scoop politico.com/news/2026/04/17…
Excited to get my copy of @JChengWSJ ‘s book today and looking forward to our conversation @BrookingsInst on April 27 .
brookings.edu/events/power-r…
Russia and North Korea cultivating generational ties, as intended by Putin and Kim. This relationship isn’t going away anytime soon. Great color and reporting from @VALERIEinNYT
In 2021, 3% of Russians said they viewed North Korea as a friendly country, according to polling by the independent Levada Center. By 2025, almost a third of respondents listed North Korea as among Russia’s closest allies.
My report from Moscow.
nytimes.com/2026/04/10/world…
