The thaw in the US-North Korea relations last year, however uncertain, was certainly a welcome change from the previous year’s bellicose rhetoric, for both sides. Yet is change really around the corner? Doubts on Kim Jong Un’s sincerity persist. Many still believe he will never denuclearize and his gestures toward opening are just another ploy to buy time. Are we just seeing more of the same? Or do we have a historic opportunity to make real change on the peninsula? What are the issues at stake in 2019? “North Korea in Transition” in-vites distinguished experts in the fields of policymaking and international relations to probe those questions and put the current situation in a broader historical context. Reaching beyond politics, this speaker series also brings together scholars who have led academic and cultural engagements with North Korea to discuss how non-political exchanges can help improve North Korea’s relations with the rest of the world.
Moderator: Dr. James Cook, ASC, University of Pittsburgh
Panelists: Weston Konishi, Director of Partnerships & Development at US-Japan Council and Senior Fellow at Maureen & Mike Mansfield Foundation; William Brown, Professor at Georgetown University and Fellow at Korea Economic Institute of America; Lisa Collins, Fellow at Center for Strategic and International Studies