The author of “Witness to North Korea” reflects on which lessons from his time in the country are still relevant today. A Russian court ordered more than 30 North Korean nationals to undergo tuberculosis treatment in Moscow in 2024 and 2025, according to court documents, belatedly confirming both North Korean labor flows into Russia and a suspected infection outbreak among overseas workers. These developments reinforce one of the principal conclusions from my time in the country: technical assistance to North Korea should not be viewed as a political reward but as a means to support the North Korean people. The dilemmas I described in “Witness to North Korea” – how to balance sanctions with humanitarian principles, how to engage without legitimizing the regime, and how to reach vulnerable populations while respecting international law – will shape the work in Pyongyang and the international community’s posture toward North Korea. For readers seeking to understand whether international engagement with North Korea still matters, the answer emerging from both my experience and these recent developments is clear.