Despite three historic US-DPRK summits between 2018-2019, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un’s talks ultimately proved inconclusive as they failed to secure a denuclearization agreement.
Relations continued to unravel in 2020, and in June North Korea’s state media reported that Pyongyang could see no future benefit in maintaining a relationship with the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, the US-South Korea alliance is facing its own challenges. Washington and Seoul are still negotiating the contentious Special Measures Agreement (SMA), unable to agree on defence cost-sharing, and tension persists over their diverging attitudes to China.
How are Kim Jong-un and his advisors likely to interpret the election results? How have previous transitions in US administrations impacted South Korea’s foreign policy? What does the election result mean for North and South Korea’s regional relationships?
This event builds on previous and ongoing research and events, as part of our five-year Korea Foundation Korea Fellowship.
Participants
John Delury, Professor, Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS)
Kathleen Stephens, President and CEO, Korea Economic Institute
Chair: John Nilsson-Wright, Korea Foundation Korea Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House
