Originally from South Korea, Jenny Town is the cofounder and managing editor of website 38 North. The idea behind the site, which is now run through the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan research organization, is to provide balanced coverage and factual analysis of North Korea, utilizing international experts to provide military, political, economic and social insights into the country. Town started the site in 2010 with former U.S. State Department official Joel Wit at the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (Town, who has a master’s in international affairs from Columbia, was an assistant director there). Her concern: Media coverage of North Korea simply wasn’t very good, which was leading to uninformed analysis by policymakers—a risky shortfall given that country’s growth as a nuclear power. Through 38 North’s analysis, some of which it gleans through satellite imagery, the site has become a media watchdog, notably confirming that North Korea was dismantling one of its nuclear sites following the 2018 North Korea-United States Singapore Summit.
