Jung H. Pak, PhD

Author of Becoming Kim Jong Un. Former CIA. Former State Dept. Former Brookings Inst Sr Fellow. Personal account.

[Jung H. Pak, PhD @junghpak1]

The paperback is out! So grateful to the team @randomhouse for the ongoing support and enthusiasm for this project.

[CSIS Korea Chair @CSISKoreaChair]

📢 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: https://t.co/HPlCPD8rPi

🎤 Speakers: @VictorDCha · @LuisSimn · @maxbergmann @csiserep · @KristiGovella · @EPejsova @VUBrussel · @MichitoTsuruoka @Keio_KCS · Nicholas Szechenyi @JapanChair

[The International Spy Museum @IntlSpyMuseum]

Tomorrow marks one year since we launched our first online exhibition, "Open Source: Ukraine and the Intelligence Revolution." View the exhibit: https://t.co/SU03CMsjHV

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 @junghpak1]

@thomaswright08 @LowyInstitute Excellent piece, Tom.

[CSIS Korea Chair @CSISKoreaChair]

📢 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: https://t.co/UKgdPDL1A7

🎙️ Featured speakers include:
@VictorDCha · @sydseiler · @RushDoshi · @MarkCancian · @AndrewIYeo · @patricia_m_kim · @snydersas · @junghpak1 · @augama · @bostonsunny · @sungminchohi · @Henrietta_Ivy · Joseph Yun · Mark Lambert

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

“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.
https://t.co/3MIjOoPCtc

[CSIS Korea Chair @CSISKoreaChair]

📢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: https://t.co/UKgdPDL1A7

CC @Henrietta_Ivy @junghpak1

[Andrew Yeo @AndrewIYeo]

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! https://t.co/Fi9JfyYVCN

[CSDS @CSDS_Brussels]

❗️New Analysis❗️

"How North Korea Won: The Strange Triumph of Kim Jong Un", by Jung H. Pak in Foreign Affairs.

Read
https://t.co/LCnTkuhGHc @junghpak1

[Edward Howell @TheEdwardHowell]

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.

[Bruce Klingner @BruceKlingner]

A superb follow-on article to update a masterful book. A must read.

[Patrick M. Cronin @PMCroninHudson]

@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.

[Jung H. Pak, PhD @junghpak1]

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.

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

“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.” https://t.co/dFga14NEwf

[Brookings Foreign Policy @BrookingsFP]

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: https://t.co/8onZQxPeWg

[Phelim Kine “老 康“ @PhelimKine]

"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 https://t.co/8Myp0hsEFM

[Jung H. Pak, PhD @junghpak1]

Excited to get my copy of @JChengWSJ ‘s book today and looking forward to our conversation @BrookingsInst on April 27 .

https://t.co/oJFIfHRrRd

[Jung H. Pak, PhD @junghpak1]

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

[Valerie Hopkins @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.
https://t.co/77JRK5RX3k

[Brookings Foreign Policy @BrookingsFP]

To understand the state ideology holding sway over North Korea, register for our event on the three-generation Kim dynasty and its grip on power, featuring @AndrewIYeo, @junghpak1, and @JChengWSJ, on Monday, April 27, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.: https://t.co/8onZQxPeWg

[Andrew Yeo @AndrewIYeo]

This will be enlightening & awesome!!🎆Pyongyang, once the "Jerusalem of the East" experienced a ✝️Christian revival in 1907. No coincidence that the Kim cult regime adopted religious overtones. @JChengWSJ @junghpak1 @BrookingsFP @penguinrandom Register👇https://t.co/X2Z9VXJHLz

[Brookings Foreign Policy @BrookingsFP]

North Korea is one of the most opaque and tightly controlled political systems in the world. On Monday, April 27, from 10:00 am - 11:00 am, watch @JChengWSJ, @junghpak1, and @AndrewIYeo unpack the Kim dynasty’s evolving ideology across three generations. https://t.co/8onZQxPeWg

[Jung H. Pak, PhD @junghpak1]

She accompanied her father to the Russian embassy in Pyongyang. And last fall she went to China for the 80th anniv celebration of the end of WW2.

If she is chosen as successor, she'll have the receipts to show her mettle and right to rule, thanks to her forward-thinking father.

[Jung H. Pak, PhD @junghpak1]

KJU's lesson from his own extremely truncated succession was that he didn't have a history in the way that his guerrilla hero grandfather and country founder Kim Il Sung had. His father Kim Jong Il also lacked the gravitas and a history of martial prowess.

[Reuters @Reuters]

South Korea's spy agency now believes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's teenage daughter has been positioned as his successor, lawmakers said, citing a recent public display of her driving a tank that was likely intended to dispel any doubts https://t.co/K92GQDqP6L

[Jung H. Pak, PhD @junghpak1]

He does not want that for the next successor. She's at the missile launches, military parades, on-site guidance tours of defense factories. She's also at economic sites - celebrating completion of construction projects, inspecting ag facilities.