North Korea remains one of the most misrepresented countries in the United States. The problem is twofold. First, North Korea is a very isolated and closed society, and accurate and reliable information about the country is difficult to obtain. Second, governmental and media portrayal of North Korea is often one-sided and narrowly focused on negative issues such as the nuclear weapons program.
On March 13, 2009, Philip Yun, Executive Director and COO of Ploughshares Fund, recounted his experience as a deputy to the head U.S. delegate to the four-party Korea peace talks and as a senior policy advisor to the U.S. Coordinator for North Korea to an audience of high school teachers at Stanford University. In addition, Yun offered his personal reflections on North Korea's past and future.