AFSC activities in the DPRK in the early 1980s started with people to people exchanges, organized with partner organizations. AFSC offered humanitarian assistance during the famine of the late 1990s, but by 1998 had established an on-going agriculture program with cooperative farms. Since 2005 the program has focused on pragmatic, farm-tested interventions to improve long-term food security – a key humanitarian concern in the country – as well as on education and training to address issues of importance to Koreans.

The long term program goal of the relationship between the DPRK and US is based on mutual thriving and shared human security in support of regional peace is pursued through advocacy efforts and partnerships. Program staff shifted focus to deepening relationships with like-minded organizations in Northeast Asia and the US to expand public education and advocacy. Program activities focus on challenging the dehumanization of people in the DPRK and changing the narrative that militarization is the only response to tension in the region by providing alternative responses.