The ‘rookie mistakes’ of Trump-Kim diplomacy – NKNews Podcast Ep. 219

North Korea News Podcast

Ever since the breakdown of talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump at Hanoi in 2018, prospects for denuclearization have grown increasingly dim. Yet there is historical precedent for a country to give up its nuclear weapons — South Africa — and some hold out hope that diplomacy might yet lead to a breakthrough on North Korea. This week, Jenny Town of the website 38 North joins the podcast to talk about what has gone wrong in negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, and what it would take to induce the DPRK to surrender its nukes. She also addresses parallels between the North Korean nuclear situation and India and Pakistan, the role of sanctions and incentives in changing Pyongyang’s behavior and the growing number of women in North Korean studies. Jenny Town (@j3nnyt0wn) is a senior fellow at the Stimson Center and the director of Stimson’s 38 North program. She also serves as an expert reviewer for Freedom House’s Freedom in the World Index, an associate fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and in various other roles. About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.