John S. Park
Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
Contact:
Email: john_park@harvard.edu
Experience
John S. Park is the Stanton Nuclear Security Junior Faculty Fellow at MIT and an Associate with the Project on Managing the Atom. He previously directed Northeast Asia Track 1.5 projects at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. These included the Korea Working Group, the U.S.-China Project on Crisis Avoidance & Cooperation, the U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Dialogue in Northeast Asia, and the U.S.-PRC-Japan Dialogue on Risk Reduction & Crisis Prevention. He advises Northeast Asia policy-focused officials at the Departments of Defense, State, and the Treasury, as well as on the National Security Council and congressional committees.
Park previously worked at Goldman Sachs, where he specialized in U.S. military privatization financing projects. Prior to that, he was the project leader of the North Korea Analysis Group at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. He previously worked in Goldman Sachs' M&A Advisory Group in Hong Kong and the Boston Consulting Group's Financial Services Practice in Seoul.
Park's writings have appeared in Wall Street Journal Asia, Financial Times, Jane's Intelligence Review, International Herald Tribune (international edition of the New York Times), and Washington Quarterly. His publications include: "Assessing the Role of Security Assurances in Dealing with North Korea" in Security Assurances and Nuclear Nonproliferation (Stanford University Press, 2012); "North Korea, Inc.: Gaining Insights into North Korean Regime Stability from Recent Commercial Activities" (USIP Working Paper, May 2009); and "North Korea's Nuclear Policy Behavior: Deterrence and Leverage," in The Long Shadow: Nuclear Weapons and Security in 21st Century Asia (Stanford University Press, 2008).
Park received his M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Cambridge University and completed his pre-doctoral and postdoctoral training at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School.
AP Photo
January 2013
"Deciphering North Korea's New Year's Address: The Real Road Ahead"
News
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
Kim Jong-eun's New Year's Day address signaled a willingness to ease tensions with South Korea and focus on economic development, but how credible is this message? Project on Managing the Atom Associate and MIT Stanton Nuclear Security Junior Faculty Fellow John Park analyzes the address in an HKS PolicyCast.
AP Photo
December 2012
"The Leap in North Korea's Ballistic Missile Program: The Iran Factor"
Policy Brief
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
John S. Park, Stanton Nuclear Security Junior Faculty Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Project on Managing the Atom Associate, argues that cooperation between North Korea and Iran has been a critical—yet underexamined—enabler of North Korea's recent success. He concludes that the time has come for the United States to view the two previously independent missile programs as two sides of the same coin and recommends strategies for disrupting the procurement channels between Iran and North Korea.
August 2012
"Assessing the Role of Security Assurances in Dealing with North Korea"
Book Chapter
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
This chapter examines the relationship between security assurances and North Korean nuclear decision-making by focusing on four key areas: key geopolitical shocks that had a major impact on the North Korean regime; main sources of security assurances for North Korea over its history; this volume's hypotheses on security assurances based on how North Korea reacted to geopolitical shocks; and conditions under which security assurances may be most effective in dealing with North Korea in the future.
Summer 2012
Q&A: John S. Park
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
John Park, a senior research associate at the U.S. Institute of Peace and currently a visiting fellow with the Belfer Center's International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, recently sat down with for a one-on-one interview where he talked about his work with the Center and his contributions to the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit.
AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File
April 16, 2012
John Park on North Korea After Kim Jong-il
In the News
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
John Park, research fellow with the Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program, is interviewed by CNN, NPR, and other media about the regional and global impact of the death of North Korea's Kim Jong-il.
AP Photo
December 19, 2011
"The Fog of the Post–Kim Jong-il Period"
Q&A
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
John Park, a senior program officer who directs USIP's Korea Working Group, analyzes the key policy issues arising from the sudden death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on December 17.
AP Photo
October 12, 2011
"Mr. Lee Goes to Washington"
Policy Memo
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
"Amid setbacks and chronic challenges in almost every major region, Washington views South Korea as a linchpin on a global scale. From hosting the G20 summit in 2010 to preparing to host the next Nuclear Security Summit in 2012, South Korea has been establishing itself as a global partner in addressing common challenges, ranging from rebalancing the international economy to preventing the use of nuclear materials for terrorist attacks. For President Lee, the state visit is an important opportunity to demonstrate South Korea’s unique role as a bridge between the developed and developing countries."
AP Photo
September 28, 2010
"North Korea's Leadership Succession: The China Factor"
Policy Memo
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
On September 28, North Korean state media announced that Kim Jong-il's third son, Kim Jong-eun, was promoted to the rank of four-star general just prior to the opening of the Workers' Party of Korea conference. Kim Jong-eun was later named vice chairman of the Party's Central Military Commission at the conference. These important developments follow the late August meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Changchun, near the Sino-DPRK border, which appears to have cleared the way for this Party conference. After the meeting, both countries' state media reported the leaders' support for the rising generation of the Party — a clear reference to Kim Jong-eun.
AP Photo
May 20, 2010
"After the Cheonan Investigation Report: What's Next?"
Policy Memo
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
"While few observers take North Korea's threat of an all-out war seriously, many experts are concerned that the sinking of the Cheonan may be indicative of a North Korea that is emboldened by its perception of itself as a nuclear power that can now carry out limited strikes without fear of large-scale retaliation."
AP Photo
April 2010
"The Sinking of South Korea's Naval Vessel: A Major Turning Point"
Policy Memo
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
"Many in South Korea have already reached their own conclusion — the Cheonan incident is a stark reminder that North Korea remains a clear and present danger. A growing South Korean view is that more than a decade of nuclear drama, food shortages, starvation, borderline economic collapse, and currency reform debacles, followed by bailouts from progressive South Korean governments and the Communist Party of China has made the international community complacent about the direct military threat that North Korea poses. The Cheonan is a wake-up call."
