Dear colleagues,


Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP), The University of Tokyo, is pleased to invite you to the GraSPP Research Seminar by Ambassador Alastair Morgan. Please see below for further details.



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Title: "North Korea: A view from Pyongyang"

Speaker: Alastair Morgan, Her Majesty's Ambassador Pyongyang, 2015-2018

Moderator: Prof. Akio TAKAHARA, Dean of GraSPP, The University of Tokyo

Date: Tuesday December 11, 2018

Time: 10:30−12:00

Venue: SMBC Academia Hall, 4F, International Academic Research Building, The University of Tokyo

(map：http://www.pp.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/campus-map/ )


★Please register from the link below.

http://www.pp.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/events/grss1211/

https://ppforum.jp/?action_entry=true&forum_id=460


Abstract:


Alastair Morgan will introduce the role of the British Embassy and British Ambassador in Pyongyang in the context of Britain's policy, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, towards the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). He will cover the level of access accorded to British diplomats in the DPRK, within Pyongyang and across the country and their ability to make observations. He will address key security issues that the international community faces with the DPRK, in particular the challenge of achieving complete verified irreversible denuclearisation. He will reflect on the current state of negotiations. In doing so, he will assess the DPRK's leadership structure and the intentions of Chairman Kim Jong Un, including Kim's aspirations for the DPRK economy. He will comment on the stance of neighbouring countries and the US. He will offer an assessment of the impact of sanctions on the DPRK and the extent of its resilience. He will also reflect on the humanitarian situation. As a stimulus for discussion, he will touch on some risks and opportunities under possible future scenarios, and potential implications for the UK and Japan.

Speaker's biography:


Alastair Morgan took up his current appointment as British Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in December 2015.


Prior to his appointment in Pyongyang, Alastair served as Consul-General, British Consulate-General Guangzhou, from 2010 to 2014, having previously held the post of Commercial Counsellor and Director of Trade & Investment for China in British Embassy Beijing from March 2007 to December 2010.


Alastair has had two previous diplomatic postings in East Asia, both in British Embassy Tokyo. From 1991 to 1996 he was First Secretary (Trade Policy) and from 2002 to 2006 he was Counsellor Trade Policy and Director of Inward investment. He also worked in Tokyo on loan to the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry from 2001 to 2002 and from 1983 to 1985 as a Lecturer in English language and literature at Gakushuin University.


Alastair joined the Department of Trade & Industry in 1985 and his subsequent appointments have included Director of Operations at the Invest in Britain Bureau.


Alastair studied English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge University and speaks Japanese, Mandarin and Korean. He is married with three children.


Related Link:

Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo (http://www.pp.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/)