Global NK Zoom&Connect has met with diverse South Korean researchers who lead the study on North Korea and listened to their voices to understand the current research on North Korea. For this issue, we met with Koh Yu-hwan, the President of the Korea Institute for National Unification, the only national research institute for unification, prosperity, and North Korea, and listened to his suggestions for realizing peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula in the post-COVID19 era and for the success of peace-denuclearization negotiations. This interview has inspired us with the expectation on the role of the Institute, which is striving to meet the calling of our times to find the path to irreversible peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula from a new perspective.

■ Koh Yu-hwan is the president of Korea Institute for National Unification. He previously served as a professor for North Korean Studies at Dongguk University (1994-2020) and the director of the Institute for North Korean Studies at Dongguk University (2009-2020).He has published papers that suggest solutions and implications for North Korean issues, including “Resolutions to North Korea’s Nuclear Issues and Establishment of a Peace Regime on the Korean Peninsula(2003).”