Possible U.S.-North Korea Summit: Expect the Unexpected

Possible U.S.-North Korea Summit: Expect the Unexpected

Friday, March 9, 2018

By: USIP Staff;  Frank Aum

This week, President Donald Trump said he is accepting an invitation by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet face to face, perhaps as soon as May. Such a meeting would be the first between a sitting U.S. president and a leader of North Korea. Frank Aum, USIP’s senior expert on North Korea, told NPR on March 8 that the news made him “optimistic and terrified at the same time.”

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionGlobal Policy

North Korea-China Summit: The ‘Strategic Choice’ by Both Sides

North Korea-China Summit: The ‘Strategic Choice’ by Both Sides

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

By: Frank Aum;  USIP Staff

The surprise visit to Beijing by North Korea’s Kim Jong Un could offer both Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping stronger hands for upcoming discussions with the United States, says USIP analyst Frank Aum. As news of the meeting broke, Aum, who previously advised the U.S. Defense Department on Korea issues, discussed its implications.

Type: Analysis

Mediation, Negotiation & Dialogue

Are the Korean Peninsula and the World Safer After Singapore? (Video)

Are the Korean Peninsula and the World Safer After Singapore? (Video)

Thursday, June 14, 2018

By: Frank Aum;  Stephen Rademaker

Following the June 12 summit in Singapore between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, the U.S. Institute of Peace asked North Korea experts Stephen Rademaker and Frank Aum whether the world is safer because of the summit and what differences—if any—there are between the pledges made in Singapore and previous agreements.

Type: Analysis

Mediation, Negotiation & Dialogue

Have the Stars Lined Up on North Korea?

Have the Stars Lined Up on North Korea?

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

By: Frank Aum

Tomorrow’s summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un represents the best opportunity for peace in the last 20 years. In 2000, the United States came—as former senior Clinton administration official Wendy Sherman described—“tantalizingly close” to achieving an agreement that would halt North Korea’s production, deployment, and testing of long-range missiles. And this was in addition to the 1994 Agreed Framework deal, which froze North Korea’s nuclear facility at Yongbyon. What is different this time around?

Type: Analysis

Mediation, Negotiation & Dialogue

Is an End-of-War Declaration for the Korean Peninsula a Risk Worth Taking?

Is an End-of-War Declaration for the Korean Peninsula a Risk Worth Taking?

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

By: Frank Aum

As efforts to resume nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang go nowhere, the concept of an end-of-war declaration for the Korean Peninsula has become a polarizing topic in both Washington and Seoul. USIP’s Frank Aum explains how it could serve Washington and Seoul’s interests, how such a declaration could advance the peace process between North and South Korea, what risks it could pose and how the U.S. Congress could play a role in shaping such a declaration.

Type: Analysis

Mediation, Negotiation & Dialogue

Incremental Denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula

Incremental Denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

By: Frank Aum;  Dr. Moon Chung-in

Tensions are rising on the Korean Peninsula as many believe North Korea is planning to conduct the seventh nuclear weapons test in the country’s history and the first since 2017. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has warned of an “unprecedented joint response” and called on China — North Korea’s closest ally — to dissuade Pyongyang from going through with the test. Amid this troubling geopolitical environment, USIP’s Frank Aum discussed the prospects for peace on the Korean Peninsula with Yonsei University’s Dr. Moon Chung-in.

Type: Analysis

Global PolicyConflict Analysis & Prevention

North Korea Blew Up Its Liaison Office with the South. What Now?

North Korea Blew Up Its Liaison Office with the South. What Now?

Thursday, June 18, 2020

By: Frank Aum;  Patricia M. Kim

North Korea’s demolition this week of an inter-Korean liaison office that symbolized North-South cooperation marks a new spike in tensions between the countries, and in North Korean frustration with the United States. It was the latest in a string of inflammatory rhetoric and actions directed at Seoul and Washington since the failure of the February 2019 summit in Hanoi between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The building’s demolition renews strains over North Korea’s ongoing development of a nuclear weapons arsenal, the corresponding global sanctions against Pyongyang’s illicit behavior and the 67-year failure to formalize a peace treaty following the Korean War. USIP analysts Patricia Kim and Frank Aum discuss the latest downturn.

Type: Analysis

Peace Processes