North Korea and the Role of Science Diplomacy

Gianluca Spezza
This study analyzes education, science, and technology initiatives as a potential bridge toward peace on the Korean Peninsula by asking what the potential impact of education and science in diplomacy with North Korea is and what problems these initiatives face. Science diplomacy with North Korea has been on the rise since the country began to open itself to the international community in the mid-1990s, despite periodic tensions and sanctions limiting such activities in more recent years. This paper explores the main facets of science diplomacy (educational exchanges, knowledge transfer, information, and technology provisions) as a potential entry point, perhaps less sensitive to political vagaries, to start joint projects and foster relations between South Korea and the U.S. with North Korea.
The Center would like to acknowledge that this publication was generously supported by the Korea Foundation.
Series on Peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula
This essay is part of an ongoing series by ISDP’s Korea Center to provide different perspectives on peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula. In so doing, it recognizes that peacebuilding is a long-term process and involves different dimensions, from the diplomatic and military to economic and societal.
Related Publications
-
The CSDDD Effect: Assessing the Impact of the EU’s Impending Corporate Sustainability Mandate on Japanese Companies
This issue brief explores the significant impact of the European Union (EU)’s expected Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) on global corporate responsibility, with a specific focus on its implications […]
-
Women’s Political Participation and Agency in Indonesia: An Interview with Raneeta Mutiara
In the context of the upcoming Indonesian presidential elections of February 2024, ISDP’s Asia Program intern Nolwenn Gueguen sat down with PhD scholar from the Singapore University of Social Sciences, […]
-
An Interview with Professor Torbjörn Lodén: EU and U.S. Relations with China in Retrospect and Looking Ahead
The Institute for Security & Development Policy (ISDP) has for the past three years had the honor and privilege of Professor Torbjörn Lodén serving as its Head of the Stockholm […]
-
South Korea as a Nuclear State: Trade-Offs and Choices
South Korea’s launch of its own Indo-Pacific strategy in December 2022 started the country’s ascent into “strategic clarity” for the US-led Indo-Pacific construct, winning favor with Washington for this policy […]
-
Indo-Pacific Security in 2030-35: Links in the Chain
In recent years, events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have brought global supply chains squarely under the spotlight. The economic impact of these disruptive events exposed the […]
-
Contemporary Hong Kong-Taiwan Relations in China’s Shadow
On November 25, 2022, the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) arranged a webinar titled “Contemporary Hong Kong-Taiwan Relations in the Shadow of the People’s Republic of China”. The […]