Supporters Veronica Timperley and Alan Goodwin reflect on a recent Guardian Live panel discussion that explored Kim Jong-un’s military ambitions
Veronica Timperley and Alan Goodwin attended the Guardian Live event Understanding North Korea: how likely is war?. It featured as panellists Tania Branigan, Guardian leader writer and former China correspondent; Aidan Foster-Carter, honorary senior research fellow in sociology and modern Korea at Leeds University; James Hoare, former member of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Research Analysts, and the first British representative to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; and Hazel Smith, author and professor at the Centre of Korean Studies at SOAS. The discussion was chaired by Emma Graham-Harrison, international affairs correspondent for the Guardian and The Observer. ‘It’s staggering how little is understood about North Korea’
Veronica: We know North Korea has reached a crisis point in terms of its relations with several key countries in the region, but looking at it objectively, there is little consensus on most aspects of its politics. It’s such an incredibly complex situation, and any analysis of the leadership structure is difficult, to say the least. It was helpful to listen to panellists with a range of specialisms, though the inclusion of a US perspective might have illuminated some aspects of the debate.
Alan: It’s hard to get a sense of whether the population at large is for or against the regime; to acquire even a surface-level knowledge – let alone in-depth insight – of a country with such incredibly tight controls on so many aspects of life.
