Discussion on North Korea can oscillate from fixating on the short term, i.e. what will Trump’s response be to the latest missile test, to the long term, i.e. how to prepare for reunification.

During the famine of the mid-1990s - which killed an estimated one million Koreans - humanitarians and other members of the international community often focused on the short term: how could the outside world help North Koreans who were suffering from disease and malnutrition in the year and now? As time moved on and aid remained in-country in the post-emergency setting, humanitarians began to consider more and more how their efforts could support – or curtail – long-term sustainability and capacity.