“The year 2012 might be a great opportunity for the West to dramatically improve relations with North Korea. We should give Kim Jong Un a chance. What do we have to lose?”

Rudiger Frank, Professor of East Asian Economy and Society at the University of Vienna, argues that the West should seize the opportunity to actively engage the new and unencumbered leader in Pyongyang who will make economic growth his top priority and who feels uneasy about China’s influence.