Trump, Kim and North Korea: Deal or No Deal?

Breakfast available from 8:00 AM
Discussion begins at 8:30 AM

Will Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un make history in Singapore on June 12? Will the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea actually meet in person — and if they do, what progress might they make in what may be the world’s most dangerous flashpoint? And if they do not meet — or the summit goes poorly — what then? Uncertainty surrounds this unprecedented summit meeting involving a tense and volatile part of the world.

On the day after the scheduled summit in Singapore, join a special Asia Society gathering that brings together two distinguished veterans of diplomacy and negotiations with North Korea. Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman, a former undersecretary of state for political affairs, was special advisor to the president and secretary of state and North Korea policy coordinator under President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Ambassador Sherman led the efforts to halt North Korean missile testing and proliferation, helped engineer the Washington visit of a top North Korean envoy for a meeting with the president, and accompanied Secretary of State Albright on her historic October 2000 meeting with Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang.  Ambassador Sherman, as undersecretary of state in the Obama administration, also led the negotiating team for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement with Iran. Joining Ambassador Sherman will be the Asia Society Policy Institute's Vice President of  International Security and Diplomacy Daniel Russel. Russel dealt extensively with the North Korea challenge in his long career as a U.S. diplomat, from his involvement in the negotiations of the 1994 Agreed Framework to his service as special assistant to the president and as assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration.

Please join us for this unique opportunity to hear analyses from experts with unique first-hand experience with high-level North Korea negotiations.

Speakers

Wendy R. Sherman is Senior Counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group and former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. She is a Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations as well as the Aspen Strategy Group.  Ambassador Sherman led the U.S. negotiating team that reached agreement on a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between the P5+1, the European Union, and Iran for which, among other diplomatic accomplishments, she was awarded the National Security Medal by President Barack Obama. Prior to her service at the Department of State, she was Vice Chair and founding partner of the Albright Stonebridge Group, Counselor of the Department of State under Secretary Madeleine Albright and Special Advisor to President Clinton and Policy Coordinator on North Korea, and Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs under Secretary Warren Christopher. Early in her career, she managed Senator Barbara Mikulski’s successful campaign for the U.S Senate and served as Director of EMILY’S list. She served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, was Chair of the Board of Directors of Oxfam America and served on the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Policy Board and Congressional Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation and Terrorism.  Ambassador Sherman is the author of the forthcoming book Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power and Persistence published by PublicAffairs, September 2018.

Daniel Russel is Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI). Previously he served as a Diplomat in Residence and Senior Fellow with ASPI for a one year term. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service at the U.S. Department of State, he most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary, Mr. Russel served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Asian Affairs. During his tenure there, he helped formulate President Obama’s strategic rebalance to the Asia Pacific region, including efforts to strengthen alliances, deepen U.S. engagement with multilateral organizations, and expand cooperation with emerging powers in the region. Prior to joining the NSC in January of 2009, he served as Director of the Office of Japanese Affairs and had assignments as U.S. Consul General in Osaka-Kobe, Japan (2005-2008); Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands (2002-2005); Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus (1999-2002); Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering (1997-99); Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1995-96); Political Section Unit Chief at U.S. Embassy Seoul, Republic of Korea (1992-95); Political Advisor to the Permanent Representative to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador Pickering (1989-92); Vice Consul in Osaka and Branch Office Manager in Nagoya, Japan (1987-89); and Assistant to the Ambassador to Japan, former Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (1985-87).

Tom Nagorski (moderator) is Executive Vice President of Asia Society. He joined the Asia Society following a three-decade career in journalism — having served most recently as Managing Editor for International Coverage at ABC News. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Advisory Board of the Committee to Protect Journalists, and a Program Advisor to the Brooklyn Historical Society. Before that he was Foreign Editor for World News Tonight, and a reporter and producer based in Russia, Germany and Thailand. He was the recipient of eight Emmy awards and the Dupont Award for excellence in international coverage, as well as a fellowship from the Henry Luce Foundation.