The East-West Center in Washington and National Committee on North Korea held the following North Korea in the World Webinar:

DPRK-Germany Relations: An Ambassador's Perspective of Diplomacy with Pyongyang

Featuring:

Ambassador Thomas Schaefer 

Former German Ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2007-10 and 2013-18)

Author of From Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un: How the Hardliners Prevailed: On the Political History of North Korea

 Ms. Esther S. Im (Moderator) 

Program Manager, National Committee on North Korea 

Dr. Satu Limaye (Opening Remarks) 

Vice President of East-West Center & Director of Research and EWC in Washington

The Federal Republic of Germany officially established relations with North Korea in 2001, but the formerly divided Germany has a long history with the North, with roots in the Cold War. Today, Germany strongly supports multilateral efforts on North Korean denuclearization and has facilitated both public and private humanitarian assistance and education and cultural exchanges between the two countries. Join the National Committee on North Korea and the East-West Center in Washington for a conversation with Ambassador Thomas Schaefer to hear key insights about the evolution of German-DPRK relations, his experience having served as German Ambassador to North Korea twice, and his perspective on the future of German-DPRK relations. 

This North Korea in the World webinar is the fifth in a series examining North Korea's historical and contemporary relations with countries in Europe and how those countries navigate relations between the United States, South Korea, and North Korea. How do these countries manage to walk the 38th parallel? How successful are they, and what can we learn from it? It follows a prior North Korea in the World webinar series on North Korea’s relations with countries across the Global South. The North Korea in the World project is a joint initiative of the National Committee on North Korea and the East-West Center in Washington; the NorthKoreaInTheWorld.org website collects and curates information and data on North Korea’s external economic and diplomatic relations.

Tuesday, September 6, 2022
10:00 - 11:00 AM EDT

Click here to find your local start time 

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Amb. Thomas Schaefer served in the German Foreign Office from 1981 until 2018. His diplomatic career took him to multiple postings in East Asia and Latin America before he was appointed as Ambassador to North Korea from 2007 to 2010. After a subsequent tour as Germany's Ambassador to Guatemala, Amb. Schäfer returned to Pyongyang in 2013 to serve as Ambassador there for the second time prior to his retirement in 2018. Amb. Schäfer is the author of From Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un: How the Hardliners Prevailed: On the Political History of North Korea (2007 - 2020). He received his PhD in German History from the University of Kiel in 1985.  

Esther S. Im is Program Manager at the National Committee on North Korea. Previously, she was a Junior Fulbright Researcher in South Korea (2015-16) and a Researcher at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, where she covered sanctions, nonproliferation, and disarmament issues during South Korea's second term on the Security Council (2013-15). She has interned at the US-Korea Institute at SAIS, Wilson Center, and Council on Foreign Relations. Esther has a M.Sc in Foreign Service from Georgetown University (MSFS) and a B.A. in International Relations-Political Science from Wellesley College. 

Satu P. Limaye is Vice President of the East-West Center and the Director of the East-West Center in Washington where he created and now directs the Asia Matters for America initiative and is the founding editor of the Asia Pacific Bulletin. He is also a Senior Advisor at CNA Corp (Center for Naval Analyses). He is a graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College) where he was a George C. Marshall Scholar. He publishes and speaks widely on Indo-Pacific regional issues and supports various U.S. government, foundation, fellowship, and professional organizations. Among his current affiliations are Center for New American Security (CNAS) Task Force on the U.S.-Philippines Alliance, United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Senior Study Group on the North Pacific, Project 2049 Study Group on the U.S.-Australia Alliance, Korea Economic Institute (KEI) Advisory Council, and Global Taiwan Institute-Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation project. 

The East-West Center in Washington and National Committee on North Korea held the following North Korea in the World Webinar:

DPRK-Germany Relations: An Ambassador's Perspective of Diplomacy with Pyongyang

Featuring:

Ambassador Thomas Schaefer 

Former German Ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2007-10 and 2013-18)

Author of From Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un: How the Hardliners Prevailed: On the Political History of North Korea

 Ms. Esther S. Im (Moderator) 

Program Manager, National Committee on North Korea 

Dr. Satu Limaye (Opening Remarks) 

Vice President of East-West Center & Director of Research and EWC in Washington

The Federal Republic of Germany officially established relations with North Korea in 2001, but the formerly divided Germany has a long history with the North, with roots in the Cold War. Today, Germany strongly supports multilateral efforts on North Korean denuclearization and has facilitated both public and private humanitarian assistance and education and cultural exchanges between the two countries. Join the National Committee on North Korea and the East-West Center in Washington for a conversation with Ambassador Thomas Schaefer to hear key insights about the evolution of German-DPRK relations, his experience having served as German Ambassador to North Korea twice, and his perspective on the future of German-DPRK relations. 

This North Korea in the World webinar is the fifth in a series examining North Korea's historical and contemporary relations with countries in Europe and how those countries navigate relations between the United States, South Korea, and North Korea. How do these countries manage to walk the 38th parallel? How successful are they, and what can we learn from it? It follows a prior North Korea in the World webinar series on North Korea’s relations with countries across the Global South. The North Korea in the World project is a joint initiative of the National Committee on North Korea and the East-West Center in Washington; the NorthKoreaInTheWorld.org website collects and curates information and data on North Korea’s external economic and diplomatic relations.

Tuesday, September 6, 2022
10:00 - 11:00 AM EDT

Click here to find your local start time 

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Amb. Thomas Schaefer served in the German Foreign Office from 1981 until 2018. His diplomatic career took him to multiple postings in East Asia and Latin America before he was appointed as Ambassador to North Korea from 2007 to 2010. After a subsequent tour as Germany's Ambassador to Guatemala, Amb. Schäfer returned to Pyongyang in 2013 to serve as Ambassador there for the second time prior to his retirement in 2018. Amb. Schäfer is the author of From Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un: How the Hardliners Prevailed: On the Political History of North Korea (2007 - 2020). He received his PhD in German History from the University of Kiel in 1985.  

Esther S. Im is Program Manager at the National Committee on North Korea. Previously, she was a Junior Fulbright Researcher in South Korea (2015-16) and a Researcher at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, where she covered sanctions, nonproliferation, and disarmament issues during South Korea's second term on the Security Council (2013-15). She has interned at the US-Korea Institute at SAIS, Wilson Center, and Council on Foreign Relations. Esther has a M.Sc in Foreign Service from Georgetown University (MSFS) and a B.A. in International Relations-Political Science from Wellesley College. 

Satu P. Limaye is Vice President of the East-West Center and the Director of the East-West Center in Washington where he created and now directs the Asia Matters for America initiative and is the founding editor of the Asia Pacific Bulletin. He is also a Senior Advisor at CNA Corp (Center for Naval Analyses). He is a graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College) where he was a George C. Marshall Scholar. He publishes and speaks widely on Indo-Pacific regional issues and supports various U.S. government, foundation, fellowship, and professional organizations. Among his current affiliations are Center for New American Security (CNAS) Task Force on the U.S.-Philippines Alliance, United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Senior Study Group on the North Pacific, Project 2049 Study Group on the U.S.-Australia Alliance, Korea Economic Institute (KEI) Advisory Council, and Global Taiwan Institute-Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation project.