How a US ambassador navigated North Korean tumult – Ep. 290

North Korea News Podcast

The late 2000s and early 2010s saw a rapid deterioration in inter-Korean ties. The six-party talks broke down, North Korea conducted its second nuclear test and dozens of sailors and South Korean civilians died in two separate DPRK attacks in 2010. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens led the U.S. Embassy in Seoul from 2008 to 2011 and played a leading role in navigating the U.S.-ROK alliance through this tumultuous period. This week, she joins the NK News podcast to discuss the unique challenges and scrutiny a U.S. ambassador faces in Seoul, the allied responses to the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island attacks and the six-party denuclearization talks. Ambassador Stephens also weighs in on watching South Korea’s rapid industrialization and democratization, inter-Korean cooperation projects, what the Good Friday Agreement can teach about inter-Korean reconciliation and more. Kathleen Stephens (@AmbStephens) first lived in South Korea as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1975 to 1977. She went on to serve as an internal political unit chief at the embassy in Seoul from 1983 to 1987 and an officer at the U.S. consulate in Busan from 1987 to 1989. She became the first female U.S. ambassador to South Korea in 2008. Ambassador Stephens now serves as chair of the board at the Korea Society in New York and president and CEO at the Korea Economic Institute in Washington. About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.