Dr. John Delury (Yonsei University), Dr. Sandip Kumar Mishra (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

As rest of Asia and "Indo-Pacific" grapple with the challenges of managing China's rise, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), does so from an unique position of strength and weakness. On one hand, North Korea can boast of being the PRC's sole defense treaty ally as well as being a brother communist party controlled state. Both countries share a long border and China has emerged as North Korea's dominant trade and investment partner. Yet these very features create a strategic trap for Pyongyang, which can easily lose its autonomy given its hostile relations with US and its allies and distant ties to more neutralist nations. While most analyses focus on Kim Jong Un's nuclear capabilities, this lecture will explore North Korea's thinking about how to deal with its hegemonic patron, and what implications their complex bilateral relationship might have on the round of diplomacy about to commence with the new Joe Biden administration & final year of the Moon Jae-in government.