In September 2016, the United Nations (UN) agreed to begin a new journey of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, with the slogan of ‘leave no one behind’. However, some countries, like North Korea, have not been included in this context due to either because they are under sanctions because of the strong military regime or because of their state fragility. More recently, COVID-19 has made the isolation even worse. With this in mind, this public lecture will address how and why the country has been left behind, focusing on the fact that the society has been cloaked by the ringfencing and bandwagoning practices of economic elites and street level bureaucrats, while the stereotype image of the country has been created mainly due to its rogue regime. In doing so, the lecture will discuss what can be the alternative narratives to develop dysfunctional state capacity for people and society in North Korea.

Sojin Lim is Reader (Professor) in Asia Pacific Studies, and Co-Director of the International Institute of Korean Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She also works as Co-Editor of the ‘Routledge Research on Korea’ series and is one of the four Editors-in-Chief at Asia Pacific Viewpoint Journal (Wiley). She is the author of articles and book chapters on sustainable development, public policy and political economy, including a monograph, International Aid and Sustainable Development in North Korea: A Country Left Behind with Cloaked Society (2023). She frequently discusses changes in the Korea Peninsula in media interviews, such as appearing on BBC.