Hajime Izumi/Professor at Tokyo International University

Congratulations on the launch of the newsletter by SAND.

It is very important to have a good perspective in research.

The SAND Institute is a new think tank with researchers who have years of experience in North Korea and are equipped with universal theories in the international community.

With their valuable experiences and insights, I believe they can compare North Korean cases and analyze issues from a long-term and historical perspective.

I think they can also conduct through researches and develop viable solutions for North Korean denuclearization, the normalization of relations between the United States and North Korea, and North Korea's perception of South Korea's policy toward Pyongyang, as well as the Japanese abduction issue.

I hope that this newsletter evolves into a medium that shares with the rest of the world its expertise and vision in observing the Korean Peninsula's issues from the perspective of continuity and change with the rest of the world and seeking directions for Korean unification.

SAND, led by a North Korean-born scholar, will be able to actively create its own values and have more options when communicating with the rest of the world.

I hope that the SAND newsletter will serve as a voice of reason in this time of uncertainty, suggesting a new path for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula and peace in Northeast Asia.