Kent Boydston
Peterson Institute
Washington, DC, United States
Contact Kent
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Past articles by Kent:
Slave to the Blog: North Korea and the Borderlands
Figuring out what North Korea and others are up to in the borderlands with China is a perennial NK Witness challenge. But it’s also where all the action is and where I turn to today. → Read More
North Korea and the Southeast Asia Connection
North Korea’s relationship with Southeast Asian countries has gotten more press recently, thanks largely in part to the assassination of Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia in February and the Trump administra → Read More
Non-proliferation and the Law-abiding World
Secretary Tillerson has promised tougher action in rounding up support for UN sanctions, even going so far as to suggest that secondary sanctions might be in the works. But as we have pointed out, such measures depend heavily on cooperation from jurisdictions that may be less than cooperative. → Read More
President Moon Jae-in and Sunshine Policy 3.0
As ballots are being tallied, exit polls strongly suggest that progressive candidate Moon Jae-in will be the next President of the Republic of Korea with around 41 percent of the vote, beating out conservative Hong Joon-pyo and Ahn Cheol-soo who look to have garnered 23 percent and 22 percent, re → Read More
How Good is China at Sanctions Enforcement?
In February, China announced that it was cutting off all coal imports from North Korea for the rest of the year effective immediately. → Read More
China, Syria, North Korea, and the Trump Doctrine
Flexibility, aka "flip-flopping," is emerging as a trademark of Trump Administration policy. The Administration’s rapidly evolving stances toward China, Syria, and North Korea are a case in point. (And to be clear, flip-flopping isn't a categorical negative.) → Read More
Sanctions Watch Update: April 2017
In our last sanctions watch update two months ago, Steph Haggard and I were skeptical that China was enforcing the hard restrictions in UNSCR 2321 concerning North Korean → Read More
Worldwide Cost of Living: Asia Rising
The Economist Intelligence Unit recently released their Worldwide Cost of Living 2017 survey, a report comparing the cost of living in cities throughout the world. Five of the ten most expensive cities are now in Asia. → Read More
North Korea and the 2017 Passport Index
Last week Arton Capital released its annual Passport Index, a ranking of all passports by the number of countries their holders are permitted to enter visa-free. → Read More
Kim Jong-nam Update: Malaysia-DPRK Relations
The assassination of Kim Jong Nam continues to drive the headlines on the DPRK. But there is an important backstory: what were Kim Jong-nam—and the other North Koreans who are there—doing in Malaysia in the first place? → Read More
Sanctions Watch: Is China Already Cheating on UNSCR 2321?
On this blog, we periodically review some simple indicators that offer insight into the state of sanctions enforcement and on the part of China in particular given that it is Pyongyang’s main trading partner by a wide margin. → Read More
Global Risks for the New Administration: North Korea in 2017
We know from a variety of press accounts that North Korea was toward the top of the list—if not the top of the list—of threats on which President-elect Trump received briefings from President Obama and the national intelligence establishment. As it turns out, this judgment is shared by experts outside the administration as well. According to the Council on Foreign Relations’ (CFR) 2017… → Read More
Effects of a Trade War on US States
The Peterson Institute for International Economics has released a study assessing the potential economic impact of both presidential candidates' trade policies. → Read More
North Korean Forced Labor in the EU
A few weeks ago VICE released a remarkable documentary on North Korean forced labor in Poland, which provides a uniq → Read More
From the Shadows: Defections, Abductions, and Murder
On April 6, thirteen North Korean restaurant workers defected to South Korea from Ningbo China, the first case of a group defection from North Korea’s international restaurant industry. → Read More