In the wake of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, former U.S. diplomat Christopher Hill ’74 shares his insight with the region and its political landscape in a New York Times article, “In Kim’s Death, an Extensive Intelligence Failure.”

“This is a society that thrives on its opaqueness,” says Hill, a former special envoy who negotiated with the North over its nuclear program, in the article. “It is very complex. To understand the leadership structure requires going way back into Korean culture to understand Confucian principles.”