In The News

Korea Times: Talks Underway to End the Korean War

Kim Rahn April 18, 2018
A formal peace treaty will be the topic for two summits, one between North and South Korea in April and a later one with the United States and North Korea. “The two Koreas remain technically at war as the Korean War ended only with the armistice agreement,” reports Kim Rahn for the Korea Times. North Korea, China and the United Nations Command signed the armistice agreement that suspended...

Times of India: Can Trump Charm Kim?

Nayan Chanda April 13, 2018
US President Donald Trump relies on global crises and foreign policy disruptions to distract from an ongoing investigation into Russian meddling with the 2016 US presidential election: tariff threats, US troop withdrawal from Syria and missile threats, dispatch of US troops to the Mexican border and notably a snap decision to meet with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. “All of these moves threaten to...

Foreign Affairs: When Trump Meets Kim

Toby Dalton and Ariel Levite April 4, 2018
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un caught the world by surprise after the two agreed to meet in May and explore the possibility of nuclear disarmament. The promise of a peace summit, following a year of strained and at times threatening rhetoric exchanged between the two leaders, revives hope that Kim may be open to de-escalation. Toby Dalton and Ariel Levite recommend...

The New Yorker: Why Kim Went to China

Evan Osnos April 1, 2018
Under the helm of Kim Jong Un, who took control of the country in 2012, North Korea has spent years testing and pushing the boundaries of international diplomacy while expanding nuclear production and scheduling nuclear testing. US President Donald Trump heightened tension when he promised to respond to any aggression with “fire and fury.” Yet, at the turn of the new year, both leaders turned the...

Washington Post: Trump Accepts Talks With North Korea’s Kim

Anna Fifield March 8, 2018
North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un has invited US President Donald Trump for talks, as conveyed by a South Korea delegation that traveled to North Korea. South Korean security and intelligence officials traveled to Washington, and said Trump agreed to a meeting before summer: “an extraordinary scene – a foreign official, unaccompanied by U.S. leaders, briefing the press at the White House about...

The Conversation: Is a Unified Korea Possible?

Ji-Young Lee January 26, 2018
North and South Korea, divided since 1945, are making a small, symbolic gesture by marching together under one flag for the opening ceremony of the Olympics. “Unfortunately, history suggests such efforts to reunite the peninsula as a single country often don’t go far,” notes Ji-Young Lee, professor of international affairs for the Conversation. She outlines the history of unification talks. “What...

Deutsche Welle: Iran Rebuffs US Demand for More Nuclear Negotiation

January 14, 2018
The Iranian government rejects US President Donald Trump’s proposal of reopening the 2015 nuclear deal for more negotiations. “The agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed by former US President Barack Obama and other world leaders after two years of intense talks, marking a significant shift after decades of animosity between Tehran and the West,” reports...