Trump Meets Kim: The Prospects of Summit Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula

In 2017 the conflict regarding North Korea’s nuclear and missile programme escalated so significantly that a war with the USA appeared possible. One year later, summit meetings between Washington and Pyongyang and between the two Koreas created space for the de-escalation of tensions and for cooperation. However, the participating actors’ positions on the denuclearisation of North Korea are still far apart. Comprehensive sanctions against North Korea are also still in place. A second summit meeting between US president Donald Trump and North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un is planned for the end of February.

What was achieved at the 2018 summits? What remained unaddressed? What can the path to normal relations between the USA and North Korea, to a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, and to the denuclearisation of North Korea look like? What role can the EU and Germany play? These questions will be the focus of this GIGA Talk on the Korean Peninsula.

Speakers: Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner is vice president of the GIGA, director of the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies, and a professor of political science at the University of Hamburg. Prof. Dr. Sook Jong Lee is a professor at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, the former president of the East Asia Institute in Seoul, and currently a visiting researcher at the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies.

Discussant: Ambassador Petra Sigmund is deputy director general for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific at the Federal Foreign Office.

Please confirm your attendance by 25 February 2019 by sending an email to [email protected].

The Chatham House Rule applies to this event. Unfortunately, the venue is not wheelchair accessible.