On the second day of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies’ North Korea week, Mr. Kim Heung Kwang, the Executive Director of the North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, gave a lecture entitled “North Korea’s Domestic Situation in 2012.” At the beginning of his remarks, Kim stressed that he tried to capture the “real picture of North Korea,” using real facts gathered from colleagues still in the country, so as to make the lecture more “meaningful” for the participants.

Kim briefly explained his background on North Korea, highlighting how he worked as a community college professor for thirteen years but ultimately decided