38 North is a website devoted to analysis of North Korea. While it strives to break new ground, the site’s main objective is to bring the best possible analysis to all those who work on North Korea for a living and those who are just interested in what happens there. Too often analysis of the North is permeated by inexperience, littered with inaccurate information or grounded in just plain bad deductive reasoning. We believe no one really knows for sure what is going on in North Korea but we can at least try to understand the possibilities. And anyone who professes certainty should be viewed with the greatest skepticism.
To accomplish these objectives, 38 North will harness the experience of long-time observers of North Korea and others who have dealt directly with North Koreans. It will also draw on other experts outside the field who might bring fresh, well-informed insights to those of us who follow North Korea.
38 North will not just cover North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction but will also dig beneath the surface of political, economic, social and other developments. And of course, as recent events have shown, from Kim Jong Il’s stroke to the currency revaluation to the opening of fast food restaurants in Pyongyang, there is a lot happening. North Korea is not a hermit kingdom, but rather a country that has been in the throes of change, good and bad, for over a decade. Those changes have important implications for the Korean peninsula, the East Asian region and the international community.
In addition to its analytical fare, 38 North will feature guest commentators, such as James Church, the noted mystery novelist whose main character, Inspector O, is well known to Korea watchers and others who love detective stories. It will strive as much as possible for ideological balance, publishing opposing opinions. It will also utilize new technologies, such as Google Earth, to analyze military, economic, social and other developments north of the DMZ.
While 38 North is an American project based in Washington, DC, it will draw on experts in South Korea, Japan, China and Europe to provide international perspectives as well.
Finally, 38 North will only be a success if its readers find it useful. So we have built into the site features that will allow you to give feedback and react to its articles. We welcome your comments, good and bad. Let’s stay in touch.
38 North is a program of the U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS (USKI), managed by Joel S. Wit, former U.S. State Department official and current USKI Visiting Scholar, and Jenny Town, USKI Research Associate. Feedback and questions can be directed to thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
