Editor’s note: The following article is an opinion piece by Joseph Kim, a North Korean defector and program manager for global policy at the George W. Bush Institute. Views expressed in opinion articles are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News.

Kim Jong Un is not North Korea — to fully understand the country, we must separate the regime from the people. 

Any assumption that the North Korea “problem” must be resolved through a government-to-government framework overlooks the role of the North Korean people in determining their own future. 

This reality must be part