Assignment: North Korea
Images and insights from inside the DPRK
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may have transformed his image from Hermit King to diplomatic statesman by stepping out onto the…
Modern Korean History
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Amidst competing narratives around the purported success and failure of diplomacy between President Trump and Kim Jong Un, Katie Stallard-Blanchette explores the political and social optics of these negotiations from the perspective of North Korean citizens and officials. To this audience, the lesson is perhaps not about Trump’s break through policy building and more about the success of nuclear weapons as an instrument of blackmail.
In light of North Korea’s recent missile testing, Korea Center director Jean Lee deconstructs the various political valances retained in this single strategic military move. To President Trump, it is an act of irreverence and a statement of frustration from Kim Jong Un. To North Koreans, it is an act of appeasement for military hardliners who are weary of dragging negotiations with the U.S.
Ahead of the Hanoi summit, experts from the United States and Japan gathered at the Wilson Center on January 30, 2019, to discuss the geopolitical implications of a new era on the Peninsula. This report combines essays from four of the speakers of the conference. Each offers their view on the implications of engaging with Pyongyang to date, and its security implications moving forward.
