A major natural disaster in North Korea could create an opening for engagement with the isolated regime through humanitarian aid, according to a Japanese disaster expert who once coordinated with North Korean officials at the United Nations. He noted that the U.N. had discussed such an approach and that disasters have helped thaw relations elsewhere. “In the event of a major disaster in North Korea, neighboring countries — including China, South Korea, Russia and Japan — could potentially provide humanitarian assistance,” Yuichi Ono, professor at Tohoku University and deputy director of International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), said during a meeting with South Korean reporters visiting Japan as part of a South Korea-Japan journalists’ exchange program on Oct. 23, according to the joint press corps. He said the idea has been raised within the U.N. itself. “We actually discussed within the U.N. whether a major disaster might serve as a catalyst for the country to open its doors,” he said. “Statistically speaking, it’s only a matter of time before Nor