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North Korea
In-depth analysis and commentary on North Korea from RUSI publications and experts.
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RUSI RESEARCH PROGRAMMES ANALYSING NORTH KOREA
North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy
China and Region: International Security Studies
Sanctions: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies
KEY RUSI PUBLICATIONS
Sanctions
A House Without Foundations: The North Korea Sanctions Regime and its ImplementationTarget Markets: North Korea’s Military Customers in the Sanctions Era
Options for UK
Why the UK Needs to be Thinking Now about a Possible Korean War
Project Sandstone Report 8: Our Man in Malaysia: The Ri Jong Chol Files
Other Publications, 14 December 2020
James Byrne and Gary Somerville
Using data extracted from some of Ri Jong Chol's electronic devices, this report highlights the scope and scale of North Korea’s networks abroad and their roles in evading sanctions.
Tags: Project Sandstone, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea
Exploring the Nexus Between Human Rights and Denuclearisation in North Korea
Conference Reports, 9 December 2020
Cristina Varriale
A report on a RUSI workshop convened to assess whether human rights and denuclearisation should be addressed as part of the same policy approach to North Korea.
Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea
Project Sandstone Report 7: The Billion-Dollar Border Town: North Korea's Trade Networks in Dandong (Part 1)
Other Publications, 4 September 2020
James Byrne, Joe Byrne, Gary Somerville and Hamish Macdonald
This report analyses North Korea's trade networks in Dandong and the role these have played in the country's ongoing attempts to evade multilateral and unilateral sanctions regimes.
Tags: China, Project Sandstone, North Korea
"A once-busy maritime coal smuggling route between North Korea and China has returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity, a joint investigation by NK Pro and the Royal United Services Institute’s (RUSI) Project Sandstone can reveal this week. "
North Korean coal smuggling route to China rebounds to pre-COVID activity levels
In The News, 17 July 2020 Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Pacific
New Tensions on the Korea Peninsula
Commentary, 17 June 2020
Cristina Varriale
North Korea’s harsh response to an incident on its border with South Korea may signify a move away from dialogue, as well as cementing the hold of the Kim dynasty.
Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea
"I think what this recent bout of tensions is really demonstrating is North Korea's agency in the peace process and it's diplomatic efforts with both South Korea and the US. The peace process is not something the South Korean administration can impose on the North. It has to be a two-way conversation. The current situation is really demonstrating that North Korea is not prioritising diplomacy right now. And actually, it had other incentives in mind, other approaches in mind, to deal with that relationship, and clearly diplomacy is not at the top of it's agenda. "
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula
In The News, 16 June 2020 Tags: North KoreaPages
New Tensions on the Korea Peninsula
Commentary, 17 June 2020Cristina Varriale
North Korea’s harsh response to an incident on its border with South Korea may signify a move away from dialogue, as well as cementing the hold of the Kim dynasty.
Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea
Alive or Not? The Perils and Pitfalls of Analysing North Korea
Commentary, 30 April 2020Cristina Varriale
An appeal to reason, logic and intellectual discipline in analysing North Korean affairs
Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Information
Rickety Anchor: North Korea Calls its Illicit Shipping Fleet Home amid Coronavirus Fears
Commentary, 26 March 2020Project Sandstone
North Korea appears to have ordered a significant portion of its shipping fleet to return home in what is likely a reaction to the global outbreak of the coronavirus, new analysis by Project Sandstone can reveal.
Project Sandstone, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea
What North Korea Is not Telling Us about Denuclearisation in 2020
Commentary, 2 March 2020Cristina Varriale
A new rallying cry to ‘achieve a breakthrough’ has been launched by the North Korean leader. But what this actually means is, probably deliberately, obfuscated.
Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Global Security Issues, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, Pacific
Crypto in the Hermit Kingdom: Understanding the Objectives of the Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference
Commentary, 28 February 2020Kayla Izenman and Katherine Norton-Williams
The coronavirus outbreak may have averted or postponed North Korea’s aim of hosting a curious gathering of blockchain and cryptocurrency experts. Potential participants should resist the temptation to attend this event, should Pyongyang seek to reinstate it in the future.
Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, Cyber, North Korea, TechnologyPages
The Southern Stratagem: North Korean Proliferation Financing in Southern and Eastern Africa
Multimedia, 15 May 2020North Korea adapts its proliferation financing activities to the particular opportunities available in each of the regions in which it operates. Sub-Saharan Africa has been no different.
Tags: Counter-Proliferation Finance, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Africa, Pacific
The North Korean Nuclear Summit
Multimedia, 9 March 2018Tom Plant, Director, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy programme at RUSI on the proposed nuclear summit between North Korea and the US
Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, United States, North Korea, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, Pacific
President Trump's Nuclear Button Tweet
Multimedia, 3 January 2018 Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, United States, North Korea, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, Pacific
Dealing with the Latest North Korea Missile Threat
Multimedia, 11 August 2017Following a war of words between US President Donald Trump and the Pyongyang regime, are we at risk of escalation? RUSI experts Tom Plant, Cristina Varriale and Emil Dall discuss.
Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, United States, North Korea, Global Security Issues, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy
Cristina Varriale on the North Korea Missile Tests
Multimedia, 6 July 2017Watch Cristina Varriale, a research analyst at RUSI's Nuclear and Proliferation programme discuss North Korea's latest missile test on BBC World News.
Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, UK Project on Nuclear Issues, North Korea, Proliferation and Nuclear PolicyPages
Project Sandstone Report 8: Our Man in Malaysia: The Ri Jong Chol Files
Other Publications, 14 December 2020James Byrne and Gary Somerville
Using data extracted from some of Ri Jong Chol's electronic devices, this report highlights the scope and scale of North Korea’s networks abroad and their roles in evading sanctions.
Project Sandstone, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Other Publications
Exploring the Nexus Between Human Rights and Denuclearisation in North Korea
Conference Reports, 9 December 2020Cristina Varriale
A report on a RUSI workshop convened to assess whether human rights and denuclearisation should be addressed as part of the same policy approach to North Korea.
Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Conference Reports
Project Sandstone Report 7: The Billion-Dollar Border Town: North Korea's Trade Networks in Dandong (Part 1)
Other Publications, 4 September 2020James Byrne, Joe Byrne, Gary Somerville and Hamish Macdonald
This report analyses North Korea's trade networks in Dandong and the role these have played in the country's ongoing attempts to evade multilateral and unilateral sanctions regimes.
China, Project Sandstone, North Korea, Other Publications
The Southern Stratagem: North Korean Proliferation Financing in Southern and Eastern Africa
Occasional Papers, 24 April 2020Darya Dolzikova and Anagha Joshi
Southern and eastern Africa has been one of the regions targeted by North Korean proliferation financing activities. Measures to address vulnerabilities can reduce countries’ risk exposure to this...
Counter-Proliferation Finance, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, Occasional Papers, North Korea, Africa
Project Sandstone Report 6: The Phantom Fleet: North Korea’s Smugglers in Chinese Waters
Other Publications, 5 March 2020James Byrne, Joe Byrne, Gary Somerville and Hamish Macdonald
A large fleet of North Korean cargo ships continues to deliver coal to China in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions, in what appears to be a large-scale, coordinated effort to evade...
Project Sandstone, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Other Publications, Global Security Issues, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, PacificPages
Project Sandstone: On the Trail of the Tae Yang - AIS Spoofing and North Korean Coal Smuggling
Events, 1 August 2019At this event Project Sandstone will present their discovery of the evolving DPRK sanction evasion techniques taken from its latest research paper, 'On the Trail of the Tae Yang'.
Project Sandstone, North Korea
Countering the Financing of North Korea’s WMD Programme: from Sanctions to Crypto
Events, 22 May 2019This RUSI Under 35’s Forum event will explore the financing of North Korean Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme, and how new technology including cybercrime and cryptocurrencies to avoid detection...
North Korea
UK PONI Roundtable: Denuclearising North Korea
Events, 31 October 2018This roundtable will discuss the current efforts of engagement to reduce and remove North Korea’s nuclear weapons, responses from regional governments and the future of diplomacy.
Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, UK Project on Nuclear Issues, North Korea, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy
Preparing for a Second Korean War: RUSI Whitehall Report Launch
Events, 28 September 2017RUSI launched a new report that examines the potential for a second Korean War and the options for the UK to respond to what would be one of the most momentous strategic shocks of the post-Cold War...
North Korea, UK
Professor Liu Ming on Security Challenges of the Korean Peninsula
Events, 20 March 2017Professor Liu Ming will examine what precisely North Korea’s objectives are for its nuclear programme and the options available to the Trump Administration in response.
International Security Studies, North KoreaPages
"A once-busy maritime coal smuggling route between North Korea and China has returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity, a joint investigation by NK Pro and the Royal United Services Institute’s (RUSI) Project Sandstone can reveal this week."
North Korean coal smuggling route to China rebounds to pre-COVID activity levels
In The News, 17 July 2020 Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Pacific
"A once-busy maritime coal smuggling route between North Korea and China has returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity, a joint investigation by NK Pro and the Royal United Services Institute’s (RUSI) Project Sandstone can reveal this week."
North Korean coal smuggling route to China rebounds to pre-COVID activity levels
In The News, 17 July 2020 Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Pacific
"A once-busy maritime coal smuggling route between North Korea and China has returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity, a joint investigation by NK Pro and the Royal United Services Institute’s (RUSI) Project Sandstone can reveal this week."
North Korean coal smuggling route to China rebounds to pre-COVID activity levels
In The News, 17 July 2020 Tags: Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, North Korea, Pacific
"I think what this recent bout of tensions is really demonstrating is North Korea's agency in the peace process and it's diplomatic efforts with both South Korea and the US. The peace process is not something the South Korean administration can impose on the North. It has to be a two-way conversation. The current situation is really demonstrating that North Korea is not prioritising diplomacy right now. And actually, it had other incentives in mind, other approaches in mind, to deal with that relationship, and clearly diplomacy is not at the top of it's agenda."
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula
In The News, 16 June 2020 Tags: North Korea
"“I don’t think he was sharing any shocking insights,” says Kayla Izenman, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in London. “It’s pretty obvious that North Korea knows what they’re doing with cryptocurrency.” According to Izenman’s own research at RUSI’s Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, North Korea has successfully used cryptocurrencies as a revenue stream and money laundering tool since at least 2017. "
What North Korea Really Wants From Its Blockchain Conference
In The News, 13 February 2020 Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, Cyber, North Korea, AML/CTF, Technology, Pacific
Diversity in the UK's Intelligence Agencies
Financing Right-Wing Extremism and Terrorism
New UK Government Initiative to Support High-Risk, High-Reward Military Science Needs Refinement