Naoko Aoki

Naoko Aoki is a research associate at the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland conducting research on security issues in the Asia-Pacific region with a focus on the North Korean nuclear problem. She is also a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the RAND Corporation for the 2018-2019 term and an adjunct fellow at Pacific Forum.

She was formerly with Kyodo News, Japan’s largest news agency, reporting on the Japanese government from Tokyo before serving as a Beijing correspondent. She covered the Six Party Talks on North Korea’s denuclearization in Beijing.

She holds a PhD in international security policy from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her dissertation explored the impact of US domestic politics on the implementation of the two denuclearization agreements that the United States had with North Korea. She holds an MA in international relations and international economics from The Johns Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

She has appeared as a commentator in broadcast media including NPR, BBC TVand BBC Radioand has been quoted in global print media including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Foreign Policy, The Independent, The Globe and Mail, South China Morning Post, Al Jazeera, North Korean news website NK Newsand online Asia-Pacific current affairs magazine The Diplomat.