Diplomatic Developments on the Korean Peninsula – Impending Stalemate or a Glimmer of Hope?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in are expected to hold another summit in Pyongyang in September. Doubts remain, however, about the state of the diplomatic process since Kim's groundbreaking meeting with US President Donald Trump in June.
 
What has been the role of the South Korean government in developments over the last year? And what are the views from Seoul on the prospects for further progress? Is the US strategy of "maximum pressure" on North Korea still in force? Can Trump count on Chinese and Russian cooperation? And how badly pressured is the North Korean economy under the current sanctions?   

Speakers

Shin Beomchul is Senior Fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Dr. Shin holds various advisory posts, including the Advisory Board of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification to the National Assembly. Previously, Dr. Shin did governmental service with the Ministry of National Defense as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Defense Minister (2009-2010). He specializes in North Korean issues, international law, and defense policy.
 
Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein is an Associate Scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), and a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. He is co-editor of North Korean Economy Watch (www.nkeconwatch.com), a website that tracks the North Korean economy, and a fellow at the Stockholm Free World Forum (Frivärld). He frequently comments on North Korean affairs for media such as Wall Street Journal, Reuters, BBC, and others.
 
Moderator: Björn Jerdén, Head of UI’s Asia Programme